Havila Voyages Norway confirmed the ambition for emission-free coastal sailings by 2030 via its current ships. The company launched its first sustainability and human rights report.
The company's CEO Bent Martini said that last year, they had "made history as the world’s first cruise company to sail into the Geirangerfjord (UNESCO site) emission-free and silently, four years before the Norwegian government’s requirement for emission-free ferries and cruise ships in the World Heritage areas comes into effect.”
“This is clear proof of our ambitions. We look forward to continuing our journey and doing our part to make tourism and shipping more sustainable”.
Martini pointed out that Havila Voyages intended "to become both carbon-neutral and achieve zero emissions in the future.”
Havila Kystruten started by gradually replacing natural gas with biogas, and the goal was to be carbon-neutral by 2028. After that, they would switch to emission-free fuel alternatives such as hydrogen, and the goal was zero emissions by 2030 – with the ships they had today.
Another goal set by Havila was to reduce onboard food waste and produce just 75 grams of food waste per person per day. The food concept includes serving all meals a la carte and using locally sourced/short-traveled ingredients.
Havila can also report a high degree of waste sorting/effective circular use of resources on its vessels, which include battery packs enabling emission-free/silent operation for 4 hours at a time. These are the most environmentally friendly ships to have ever sailed the historic coastal route Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen.
With current operations, CO2 emissions are reduced by ~40%, and local emissions such as NOx and SOx are reduced by more than 90%, compared to equivalent ships using traditional fossil fuels.