New restrictions on cruising Norway

[4774Papa]

Here is an article that may affect booked cruises that visit certain ports in Norway.

https://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/272131/cruise-industry-in-norway-to-operate-emission-free-by-2026/

 

[hallasm]

Yes, this will be the end of ‘cruise ships of today’ sailing all the way to Geiranger and probably also to Flåm.

Norwegian Cruise companies operating along the Norwegian Coast (Hurtigruten and Havila Kystruten) will have ships with a combination of liquefied natural Gas and battery propulsion by 2021 - likely to set the standard for other cruise ships allowed to sail in the Norwegian Fjords after 2026.

[diane.in.ny]

very interesting. thanks for posting

 

[kaisatsu]

I’m not so sure it will affect booked cruises. I don’t think any companies have started selling 2026 sailings yet! 🙂

 

Parliament voted last year to approve the 2026 deadline for ferries and cruise ships. There is currently discussion about extending controls to other types of maritime traffic.

[kaisatsu]

Sorry! I had overlooked the news about the new amendment. You could be in trouble if you have an upcoming cruise booked on a ship with high SOx or NOx emissions.

[kitkat343]

I'm sorry - I'm not terribly familiar with Norwegian geography - will these regulations also affect Alesund? 

[hallasm]

Not yet for Ålesund.

New legislation is proposed for 2020 for reduced emissions and discharges and a cleaner environment in the heritage Fjords: Nærøyfjord, Aurlandsfjord, Geirangerfjord, Sunnylvsfjord and Tafjord.

[kaisatsu]

The emissions restrictions will start being phased in on 1 Jan 2020, but there are additional restrictions visible emissions that actually went into effect on 1 March 2019 and will affect the upcoming cruise season.
https://www.sdir.no/en/news/news-from-the-nma/new-environmental-requirements-in-the-world-heritage-fjords/

 

There is a link in the above post to the full details of the amended regulations, and includes the input from various cruiselines (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC, Viking, Hurtigruten, etc). An excerpt of the changes that are relevant to the upcoming season reads:

"There is no phase-in period for the installation of the device for reducing visible smoke. Ships which use an exhaust gas cleaning system to meet the sulphur requirements and do not have the relevant equipment must shift to marine gas oil (MGO) until such a device is in place and put into service."

Essentially, if a ship does not have the requisite systems and the cruiseline does not want to pay for the more expensive low-sulphur fuel, they may have to alter their itinerary.

 

The ports that will be affected by these regulations are

• Nærøyfjord -- Gudvangen
• Aurlandsfjord -- Flåm
• Geirangerfjord -- Geiranger
• Sunnylvsfjord -- Hellesylt
• Tafjord -- I've never seen any of the towns on Tafjord on a cruise itinerary

 

[kitkat343]

Thanks for the update about Alesund - I had a lot of restrictions on my Norway cruise (was traveling with a  2 year old so could only sail Cunard for daycare) and wasn't able to make it there.  I really loved Geiranger, Flam and Olden though, and hope there's enough incentives for the cruise ships to make the improvements they need to continue their visits (it would be a disaster for the new attractions like the Loen Skylift and  Geiranger skywalk if the cruise ships stop visiting)

Edited March 6, 2019 by kitkat343

[WaterView2]

This is very good information to have. I read the links and although I'm not an engineer it is pretty clear that only a few natural gas powered ships can currently meet the Phase 3  year 2025-26 requirements for the historical fjords. The Phase 1 and 2 requirements and which ships can meet them are hard to determine without technical details of the ships. Many probably can meet the Phase 1 standards by switching to more expensive ultra low sulphur diesel fuel from marine heavy fuel oil, whether that makes sense for a cruise line will be an interesting story to follow.

 

We have a 2020 cruise to Norway booked, which includes some of the regulated fjords, so this is of interest.