Top environmentally friendly cruises – from Ambassador Cruise Line to Hurtigruten
Environmentally friendly cruises are becoming more popular, with guests keen to travel without harming the environment and local ecosystems.
Discover some of the top environmentally friendly cruise lines for 2022, including how lines are aiming to reduce emissions.
Havila Voyages
Havila Voyages aims to maintain the unspoilt scenery that Norway possesses by utilising LNG and battery-powered ships.
The line’s four ships will feature large battery packs on board, so each ship can sail for four hours with zero emissions before transferring to LNG, cutting CO2 emissions by roughly 25 per cent and NOx emissions by 80-95 per cent, Havila Voyages claims.
The ships are also tailored to be more eco-friendly by ensuring the hull is built to withstand all types of weather along the Norwegian Coast. Havila Voyages sources ingredients from local sources to reduce transportation emissions.
Ambassador Cruise Line
New line Ambassador Cruise Line is upgrading its ships to include emission reduction technologies.
Overall, the line says, this will help reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 95 per cent compared to current standards.
Elsewhere on board, Ambassador has banned single-use plastics and aims to use eco-conscious products.
The line has partnered with ORCA for the first cruise anti-whaling campaign, with the line planning to host two ORCA ocean conservation on 11 sailings on Ambience in 2022 and 2023.
It will also encourage guests not to consume whale meat, and there will be no destination experiences to oceanariums.
Hurtigruten
As an expedition cruise line, Hurtigruten takes guests to a variety of remote locations across the world, so it comes as no surprise that the line ensures it is as sustainable as possible.
Hurtigruten’s fleet includes hybrid-electric powered expedition cruise ships such as MS Fridtjof Nansen and MS Roald Amundsen.
The line was a leader in removing single-use plastic from its entire fleet and hotels.
Guests can learn about sustainability on board through expert lectures about ecosystems and climate change.
The line also has regulations on the size of its cruise ships and the number of guests on board to avoid mass tourism issues.
Ponant
Luxury cruise line Ponant has reduced its emissions through fuel-saving techniques. The line’s average speed across all ships is limited to 10 knots, so fuel consumption is reduced by 30 per cent, it states.
The line has also equipped its ships with batteries, to allow generators to be switched off when docked, at anchor or close to inhabited areas.
Ponant also switched to low sulphur marine gas oil in 2019, which has a sulphur content 10 times lower than the maximum allowed by maritime regulations, in an effort to boost its environmentally friendly cruises.