Hurtigruten Expeditions introduced the fleet’s 3rd battery-hybrid powered ship - MS Otto Sverdrup.
Otto Sverdrup departed from Hamburg Germany on her Maiden Voyage on August 24, and the line marked 3 major milestones:
- Introduction of Hurtigruten’s 3rd battery-hybrid powered ship
- Introduction of the first year-round expedition sailings from Germany, with Hurtigruten offering departures from Hamburg to the Norwegian coast
- Return of expedition cruises following 1,5 years of COVID pause.
The growing fleet of Hurtigruten Expeditions' smaller, more sustainable expedition vessels takes passengers exploring 250+ destinations across some of the planet's most spectacular waters, including Alaska, Antarctica, UK-British Isles, West Africa, Iceland and Greenland, Svalbard, Galapagos Islands.
Equipped with battery backs and green technology, MS Otto Sverdrup will operate year-round expedition voyages from Hamburg Germany to the Norwegian coast. This means that the company, which introduced the first battery-hybrid powered cruise ships in the world, MS Roald Amundsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen, is adding another hybrid-powered vessel to a growing fleet of smaller and more sustainable expedition ships.
Following a complete upgrade and transfer to Hurtigruten, Otto Sverdrup's maiden voyage from Germany was the first sailing in the restart of operations.
Late September 2021, MS Maud will commence the first-ever year-round UK-based expedition sailings. In addition to the closer-to-home departures from Dover UK and Hamburg Germany, Hurtigruten Expeditions 2022-2023 winter program also features Alaska, Antarctica, West Africa, and from January next year, the Galapagos Islands.
Hurtigruten recently launched expedition cruises to West Africa, including Cape Verde and the Bissagos Islands, as well as unique ways to explore the Canaries from 2022.
Expedition cruises to Galapagos Islands have also been introduced as part of Hurtigruten's global offering.