Havila Voyages was the first large passenger vessel that sailed silently and emission-free into a world heritage fjord, a milestone for green technology in the cruise and passenger vessel industry.

In June 2022, the Havila Kystruten hybrid LNG-electric passenger ship “Havila Castor” took its first zero-emission voyage into the Geiranger fjord in Norway. The emissions-free transit was made possible by what was at the time the largest energy storage system installed onboard a commercial vessel, a 6.1 MWh Corvus Energy Orca ESS. The entire trip from the city of Ålesund and back took nine hours where more than three hours were on battery only. Feedback from Havila technical personnel on board was that the battery performed beyond expectation. After three hours on battery only, they had close to 40% of the battery capacity left which means four hours is no problem.

The vessel has 179 cabins and takes 640 passengers sailing the coastal route between Bergen and Kirkenes in the North of Norway. The full roundtrip takes 11 days and is an epic journey through some of the most scenic and unspoiled nature.

The battery system, along with other environmental technologies onboard the ship, reduced CO2 emissions by around 30% and NOx emissions by 90%. Including biogas enables the vessel to reduce CO2 emissions even further.

The groundbreaking Havila Castor is one of four identical Havila Kystruten vessels, all designed by HAV Group ASA with Norwegian Electric Systems (NES) leading the system integration. All four vessels are equipped with Corvus Energy Orca ESS.