Large cruise ships will soon be a much less common sight in Norway’s Geirangerfjord.
If you’ve always dreamed of a cruise along the Norwegian fjords, you may want to consider booking your trip sooner rather than later.
In just a few years’ time, only zero-emission vessels will be permitted to sail in the parts of the west Norwegian fjords protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The government made the decision back in 2018, but set a maximum eight-year time frame in order for the industry to come up with potential solutions. The director of the Geirangerfjord World Heritage Foundation called it a “brave decision”, while UNESCO said it should have a “positive impact” on the “local population, transport and tourism, climate and broader fjord environment.”
Big changes coming to famous fjords
The area covered by the regulations includes the world-famous Geirangerfjord, Nærøyfjord and Aurlandsfjord.
This includes ports such as Geiranger, Hellesylt and Flåm, commonly featured on Norwegian fjords cruise itineraries offered by some of the world’s best-known cruise lines including Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Medium and large-sized cruise ships will soon be a thing of the past in Norway's Geirangerfjord.
While few cruise lines have declared their plans post-2026, it’s assumed that other ports in the fjord region but outside the UNESCO-listed will pick up the slack. In the meantime, lines are pushing hard with marketing their heritage fjords cruises while they still can.
A glimpse of the future on the coastal route
Despite several years notice, not much has changed in terms of new build cruise ships. However, two companies worth paying attention to are Hurtigruten and Havila whose smaller coastal cruise ships sail the classic Norwegian route between Bergen and Kirkenes almost every day of the year.
While they are not fjords cruises, the full Norway coastal voyage does call in to the Geirangerfjord for a spot of scenic cruising during the summer months.
Lasse Vangstein, communications manager at Havila Voyages, says that Havila’s new vessels were designed with the future firmly in mind: “When the Norwegian parliament decided on the new rules in 2018, industry insiders said emissions-free cruises in the World Heritage fjords by 2026 was impossible. We’ve already done it in the Geirangerfjord, four years early.”
Havila Capella can sail for up to four hours on battery power on the Norwegian coastal route.
The new Havila vessels run on a plug-in hybrid system that combines LNG and batteries. “The battery packs are the biggest installed in a passenger ship anywhere in the world, and they allow us to sail up to four hours emission-free. This hybrid function reduces our CO2 emissions by up to 40% in perfect conditions,” he adds.
Competitor Hurtigruten is also making big investments in its fleet. MS Richard With is the first of seven ships to be upgraded with hybrid technology, cutting CO2 emissions by 25% and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 80%. The company is also participating in the research project Sea Zero, which aims to develop a zero-emissions vessel.
Passenger ferries are already electric
More arrows to the future can be found on smaller passenger ferries in the fjord region, many of which are already all-electric.
Introduced to meet the new zero-emission requirements, the Vision of the Fjords and Future of the Fjords have been carrying sightseeing tourists and local ferry passengers in the fjord region for a few years now. The vessels’ relative silence adds to the experience of sailing along the heritage fjords as waterfalls tumble down the steep mountainsides and eagles circle overhead.
As larger cruise ships will not meet the new criteria set down by the Norwegian government, itineraries will be changed to include lesser-known fjords, boosting tourism there. But it’s not necessarily the end for ports like Geiranger. Cruise lines could strike deals to run excursions into the heritage fjords on smaller, zero-emission ferries from ports outside the restricted area.
