Northern Xplorer’s chief executive and SunStone Ships’ designer reveal the fuel choices behind the companies’ newbuilds
Hydrogen and methanol are moving ahead within the cruise ship sector as operators reveal they will use these fuels going forward.
Panellists OSK ShipTech managing director Anders Ørgård Hansen and Northern Xplorer chief executive Rolf Sandvik explained their fuel choices at Passenger Ship Technology’s webinar Cruise Ships: Navigating the path to net zero emissions.
OSK ShipTech is working on the new Boundless-class ships for SunStone Ships. Mr Ørgård Hansen said, “The ships we engage with are all operating on different operational restraints and on zero emissions – it is very important to choose the right fuel based on the best-as-possible prediction of the future operations of the ships. The operational profile determines storage and that has a huge impact.”
He explained the Boundless ships are designed prepared for methanol. “We believe this is the most likely fuel for Arctic operations where the ships will be deployed. We are fully aware other operators in other areas have the benefits of other fuels like hydrogen, but for these ships we look at methanol, waste-heat recovery and battery-hybrid propulsion.
“We see the electric grid and battery hybrid as key fundamentals for future proofing for these ships; the fundamental is about keeping as many options as possible open at a later stage and that means the electric grid is essential for having ships in operation in the future. We used a DC grid to put all the things together on board the ship.”
Mr Ørgård Hansen singled out the propulsion storage capabilities as being the biggest challenge and added, “This putting a lot of pressure on operators. We are looking at other cruise ships and finalised a project that is dual fuel with methanol and hydrogen to take advantage of storage capabilities and fluctuations in fuel prices going forward.”
He said when talking about zero emissions, it is “super important to take advantage of the knowledge of three scopes and fuel is only scope one.”
“We are also putting a lot of effort into studying scope two and three; and experience from these analyses is very important from a total emissions focus to look at building strategy and design strategy so total emissions are reduced.”
He said OSK ShipTech looked at how to optimise the CO2 footprints of interior design and was applying this to the Boundless-class ships. Showing the audience a rendering of a Boundless stateroom cabin, he said the company had done some interesting calculations of CO2 emittance from such a cabin.
The ceiling accounted for 20% CO2 emissions from the cabin, followed by the bed at 17%, carpet 11% and leather at 10%.
Mr Ørgård Hansen summed up, “These examples underline that when making a decision to build a zero-emissions ship, the next target is to get a data-driven approach to the design philosophy.”
Mr Sandvik unveiled Northern Xplorer’s plans for its fleet. In September 2022, Northern Xplorer signed a letter of intent with Portuguese shipbuilder West Sea for the construction of its maiden vessel, with delivery slated for the start of the 2025/2026 cruise season. DNV will class the vessel and Multi Maritime is designing the ship.
Mr Sandvik told delegates at the webinar, “Our mission is to discover the world with the least possible footprint and emit as close to zero emissions as possible in operation.”
Alluding to the 2026 legislation that will mandate shutting out all ships using fossil fuels from sailing in Norway’s vulnerable regions, such as the fjords, Mr Sandvik said, “The 2026 legislation kickstarted our project and while it was not because of this we started, we as an industry have to look at possibilities the technology makes available for us and also at what customers want in the future – travel with a smaller footprint.”
While the company plans to start operating in Norway, Mr Sandvik explained the company has a global perspective. “First, we will start with two to three ships before expanding into Europe. To launch such a ship, we need great partners and are working with ABB for integration.”
The ships will run on hydrogen and battery power. Mr Sandvik said, “The reason for us to go with hydrogen is the ability for green hydrogen, we are only opting for green hydrogen. We have opted for two thirds electricity – through mega batteries – and one third hydrogen, so it is a hybrid solution and serves the itinerary pretty well.
Crucially, Northern Xplorer has come together with partners to make a complete hydrogen value chain for its cruise ships. The partners comprise of: hydrogen provider and owner of infrastructure Norwegian Hydrogen, high-capacity hydrogen transfer system supplier HYON, ship designers Multi Maritime and hydrogen storage system provider Hexagon Purus Maritime.
“The partners are making the complete value chain for the operation of these ships when it comes to hydrogen. We needed to create the entire value chain and so our partners represent production, storage and bunkering of hydrogen.”
Mr Sandvik said battery and hydrogen power will be deployed in the first builds, while later, more unregulated electricity would be explored, including solar panels and wind power [in Norway].
And he added, “If the industry as a whole is to go to zero emissions, we need to discuss how to use reactor technology on the ships.”
Homing in on why the company is focusing on Norway, Mr Sandvik said, “The infrastructure is hydrogen-ready – the push from politicians is quite substantial and we can see the majority will be in production and deliver hydrogen to ships. One of the facilities is in the Unesco World Heritage Fjords and will deliver hydrogen this year, so it is happening.
“In 30 months’ time, we will have our first ship cruising with clean energy in the World Heritage Fjords. We expect these new generational cruise ships to create a better and greener cruise experience for our audience.”
Highlighting his key takeaway from the webinar, Mr Ørgård Hansen said, “The industry is waiting for a phenomena – owners are sitting and waiting to see which is the winning fuel. But my key message is the decision is not going to be taken at all [on the winning fuel] – it depends on how you operate the ship and how you operate the business model around the design.”
Mr Sandvik said, “The future isn’t certain on fuel options. It is important we are curious and innovative and are seeking different options.”
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