The ship, named the ‘Vision of the Fjords’, features a 749kW diesel engine, an electric motor and lithium-ion batteries, which allow it to switch between diesel-powered and completely emission-free modes. According to its operator, the Fjords, it is the first sightseeing ferry capable to run fully on electrical power.
“We ordered this ship based on the specific needs of the area, where we are actually travelling in,” explained Rolf Sandvik, director of The Fjords. “We are making a two hour and a half transit of an area within the UNESCO-protected Naeroyfjord, which we are marketing as one of the cleanest spaces in the world. Yet until today, we have been doing it using heavily polluting 1970s diesel ferries.”
The Vision of the Fjords was built by innovative family-owned shipyard Brodrane Aa, specialists in carbon-fibre vessels. Brodrane Aa is one of the few companies using carbon fibre technology to make commercial vessels, also being the first to have done so. It built its first carbon fibre ferry in 2002 and has since completed 50 projects. The lightweight material was key to enable the efficiency needed to allow the Vision of the Fjords to last on batteries long enough to navigate its course through the pristine area.
“Using carbon fibre allows us to substantially decrease the weight of the vessel, which directly translates into its energy usage,” explained Tor Oyvind Aa, Brodrane Aa’s CEO.
“For this ferry, the light material means that you can use less battery, you can use less diesel and still reach the speed that you want.”
