Norwegian transportation company The Fjords has unveiled plans to add another all-electric passenger vessel to its fleet, with the news that Legacy of The Fjords is now under construction at Brødrene Aa.
The 400 PAX, carbon fibre catamaran shares the design of sister ships Vision of The Fjords and Future of The Fjords but marks a bold move by the owners into a new operating area – the Norwegian capital, Oslo.
From July 2019, Brødrene Aa’s “Seasight” design will be seen sailing through a completely new environment, an urban one.
The Fjords operates 11 vessels serving Western Norway’s fjords area. Vision and Future are the current flagships, sailing daily between Flåm and Gudvangen.
“Oslo is very different from Flåm, but we believe it should demand the same degree of operational responsibility and environmental care – especially seeing as it is EU Green Capital of the Year 2019. We want to set new standards for the urban environment, as we have done for the natural one, and the silent running, highly efficient, zero emission Legacy of The Fjords will allow us to do so,” Rolf Sandvik, The Fjords CEO, commented.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg recently announced the plans for the vessel when taking the role of Future of The Fjords’ Godmother in Gudvangen. Here she confirmed that the new ship will receive support from state-run organizations Enova and the NOx Fund, conceived to help enable low emission technology.
Featuring a length of 42 meters and a width of 15 meters, the newbuilding will employ a specially constructed power dock allowing it to refill its 2.4MWh battery capacity in just 20 minutes. The power dock bleeds energy from the local grid throughout the day – while also storing consumables, fuel and waste for collection – and in doing so avoids unsustainable, expensive power surges. Its ability to store grey and black water also ensures zero emissions to water, as well as to air.
“This is a considerable investment but an important one. From a growth perspective it marks a new phase for the business, but, more importantly, it also shows other operators here and around the world that it is possible to operate with the utmost environmental care, while providing sensational passenger experiences, in cities as well as natural landscapes,” the Fjords CEO concluded.
The Fjords is jointly owned by tourist body Flåm AS and Norway’s leading ferry company Fjord1.