“Can not recommend cruises”: probably not a holiday with a clear conscience Rhodes forest fire: mother missed her son and criticized the Swiss embassy

In the high season, more than one cruise ship calls at the port of Hamburg every day. Despite the ubiquitous debate over climate protection, tourists are not deterred: more and more people are drawn to travel across the world’s oceans. The corona pandemic meant a dip, but already in 2022 the number of passengers was higher than ever before in 2018. The trend is clearly upward.

Most cruise operators talk about climate protection efforts, but not all do anything. The German Society for Nature Conservation (Nabu) has been publishing a cruise ranking for years. In it, the nature conservation organization evaluates the company’s progress towards more sustainability, based on voluntary information. The differences are big. Shipping company Hurtigruten did better than average, most recently landing on top twice in a row. So what does the Norwegian operator do better?

Expedition ship runs on hybrid propulsion

Site visit on the “MS Otto Sverdrup” at the Steinwerder cruise terminal in Hamburg. The ship departs from there every second Friday towards the North Cape, in 14 days it goes along the Norwegian coast and through narrow fjords. This route is known as the mailboat route. The special thing about the “Otto Sverdrup”: the 21-year-old ship was retrofitted with a hybrid drive.

The ship is equipped with large batteries designed to reduce emissions and aid engine performance. However, the main drive, which also supplies energy for the hotel area and for charging the batteries, will continue to run on marine diesel. The batteries can also be charged in ports with a suitable shore power connection, which is certainly not the norm. In Hamburg, for example, until now only much larger cruise ships could use shore power from renewable sources.

The hybrid drive of the “MS Otto Sverdrup” works differently from the plug-in hybrids known from the automotive sector. Hurtigruten says the engines usually run in the “optimum torque range with the highest efficiency”. If there is otherwise unused energy left, the batteries will be charged. Even in difficult navigation maneuvers in harbors or fjords, there is no need for another diesel engine in inefficient standby mode because the electric motor is available.

Guests also benefit from the electric motors on board. When watching whales, for example, you can switch to electric propulsion: the animals would be less disturbed – and the passengers would hear the silence of the Norwegian coast better. Of course, the propellers of the “Otto Sverdrup” do not turn completely silently.

The almost 140 meters long and 21.5 meters wide ship is an expedition ship. Hurtigruten does not want to offer cruises with thousands of passengers who can enjoy a large entertainment program every night. Passengers on the “Otto Sverdrup” should also learn something, so the promise. It is said that secondary school teachers come on board more often than classic package holidaymakers. Most groceries are loaded in the Norwegian ports visited – it has to be as fresh and regional as possible.

The ship’s crew also includes researchers, such as marine biologists and ornithologists, who give lectures at the “Science Center” and offer excursions on the tender boats. The «Otto Sverdrup» always has these big inflatable boats in its hull, just like kayaks and SUP boards. However, there is no dance floor or water slides on board, but there are fitness studios, saunas and a bar. The special claim offered to up to 530 guests has its price: The “expedition on the tracks of the mail boat route” costs from about 5,000 euros per person in the simplest cabin – competitors offer Norway cruises for half.

But is all this enough to make a cruise truly eco-friendly?

The cruises with hybrid drive are certainly not emission-free. For example, the Nabu has criticized the lack of a soot filter, despite the first place in the ranking. This is especially difficult in arctic regions. However, the “MS Otto Sverdrup” scores in other areas of sustainability: the regional supply along the coast of Norway, the absence of plastic bottles on board and the relatively small number of passengers as a counter model to the mass tourism of other providers, some of whom travel with even dirtier heavy fuel oil.

But it’s also clear that smaller isn’t necessarily better. On the one hand, smaller ships are more likely to penetrate particularly sensitive habitats – in other words, Hurtigruten also advertises it. On the other hand, large ships may have lower per capita emissions. Hurtigruten does not yet have its own reliable figures.

The Federal Environment Agency states that a seven-day cruise on the Mediterranean Sea, without arrival and departure, entails per capita similarly high greenhouse gas emissions as a return flight to the Canary Islands: almost two tons of CO2 equivalents. That is more than an average German per year per car, bus and train.

The Nabu ranking should not be a cruise recommendation

Nabu also does not want his ranking to be taken as a recommendation: “We cannot recommend cruises, regardless of the provider,” t-online said when asked. There are “exciting approaches to enabling zero-emission cruising,” but that’s still a dream for the future. Hurtigruten also says zero-emission cruises through the Northwest Passage to Patagonia, Spitsbergen or Antarctica are not yet in sight.

The road to climate neutrality in shipping is still far too long to cover in a few steps. Hurtigruten wants to take a big step by 2030, when the first zero-emission mail ship should enter service. The mail boats have been running regularly for 130 years between Bergen and Kirkenes on the Russian border, bringing passengers, vehicles and supplies from south to north and vice versa. 34 ports are visited along the way. Until a few years ago, the “MS Otto Sverdrup” still sailed on the traditional mail boat route.

The infrastructure needed for a zero-emission ship could be built along this line. In addition, according to the plans, the new mail ship should move with retractable sails, solar cells and AI-optimized maneuvers. The extra large batteries must also be supplied with shore power.

Hybrid drive is the transition to climate neutrality

The size and capacity of the new vessel will be comparable to the “Otto Sverdrup”. Exactly how the technical innovations interact is still the subject of ongoing research. “Some technological solutions already exist, but need further development in order to be used successfully in the maritime industry,” said Hurtigruten boss Hedda Felin when presenting the plans a few weeks ago.

By then, the existing fleet of mail and expedition ships will have been converted to hybrid propulsion. Hurtigruten wants to be a pioneer – in an industry that is far from clean. If this is to succeed, major investments are needed in new technologies, both on ships and in ports. The question of good conscience remains a personal decision for so long. And cruising with a pure green conscience is another vision.

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