“Today has marked a historic day, both for Norled and for Norway as a leading shipping nation,” said Heidi Wolden, CEO of Norled. “We are witnessing the world’s first ship sailing on liquid hydrogen.” The ship is the ferry MF Hydra.
Since the turn of the year, Norled has been carrying out system tests at the quay in Hjelmeland. In recent weeks, it has been running sea trials and received the final approvals from the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA).
“There are only two parties in the world that use liquid hydrogen as fuel,” noted Erlend Hovland, Chief Technology Officer of Norled. “These are Norled with the MF Hydra, and then the space industry uses it as fuel for launches. This says something about the giant technology leap now taken for the maritime industry. After a lot of development and testing, we are now looking forward to welcoming passengers on board for a zero-emission journey between Hjelmeland and Nesvik.”
Norled focuses on innovation and sustainable solutions. In 2015, the company launched the world’s first battery-operated, propeller-driven ferry, the MF Ampere. This led to an electric ferry revolution in Norway. At present, the country has around 70 electric ferries in operation.
(Photo from Norled)
