NEWS

New stringent emission regulations (zero NOX and CO2 emissions) have recently been announced for cruise ships in the Norwegian World Heritage Fjords and will be implemented from the 1st of January 2026. NGF already meets the criteria with their hybrid cruise ship design and are therefore considering deploying these ships in Scandinavia/Norway and in the Mediterranean.

 

Proposed cruise seasons and routes:

 

1. Summer season (May 1st – October 1st) - The ships will operate in Scandinavia/west coast of Norway up to Svalbard.

2. Winter season (October 1st – May 1st) - The ships will operate in the Mediterranean area.

 

General -160 m Cruise ships:

Unlike many of the large cruise ships on order/under construction with passenger capacities of up to 8,000 and little emphasis on low/zero emission, NGF has been working on ordering two smaller environmentally-friendly hybrid cruise ships.

 

Technical:

The main objective for NGF is sustainability and to deploy new types of medium/small luxury cruise ships taking only about 500 passengers.

 

The cruise ships will feature standard sized cabins all including a bathroom, two toilets, a balcony around 37 m2 and a private Jacuzzi. The ships will also have three restaurants, indoor/outdoor pools and other amenities.

 

With only 160m in length/5m draught, the 16 kts e-Cruise Ships will be able to offer cruise itineraries which include many smaller, tranquil ports where large ships cannot embark, and where future emission regulations will be very stringent or even zero.

 

Since many of the smaller ports do not offer shore power, the NGF cruise ships can use their own power plants, with batteries/fuel cells to provide sufficient shore power with ZERO emissions.

The special power plant on the ships will consist of several multi-fuel power systems, combining large batteries, windmills/solar cells, fuel cells (running on a fully enclosed ammonia cracking system), biodiesel/biofuels and also standard clean MDO, all as required and available.

​

A number of ports in the Mediterranean area have already been in contact with NGF and expressed interest in being chosen as ports on the itinerary, especially since the ships will have zero emissions when going in/out of ports, and whilst in the ports.

 

The ships will have advanced Voith VSP main propulsion systems (with active roll reduction) and two-bow tunnel thrusters, giving excellent manoeuvring capability in the often narrow ports where emphasis on minimum disturbance to the vulnerable seabed must be considered.

 

Time plan.

NGF will now start discussions with some of the larger cruise ship operators for cooperation agreements relating to the marketing/operation of the ships.  We will also look to speak to tour operators and travel bureaus etc.

 

NGF is in negotiation with two reputable European shipyards for the building of these ships.

 

Our plan is to build two cruise ships to be available from the 1st of January 2026, with another two as an option at a later stage.

The 180 metres  «green» high-speed (35 kts) RORO/ROPAX ferry has been designed to reduce road congestion, road maintenance costs, transport time and emissions by transporting cargo via maritime routes rather than by road, minimising trucks, and lorries on the motorways.

 

The high-speed ferry concept has three goals:

• Transport goods faster than road trucks.

• Offer cheaper transport.

• Reduce CO2 and NOX emissions.

 

This Pan-European fast ferry concept will have the capacity to take a combination of trucks, lorries, private cars, and passengers. Routes will primarily focus on the Mediterranean area (prone to stringent future emission regulations), with route distances ranging typically from 200-800 nautical miles, with further distances possible, such as transatlantic routes.

 

The 40 MW power plant of the ship will consist of:

• Dual fuel gas turbines, dual fuel diesel, batteries, and solar cells

• Multi-fuel options such as MDO, biofuel, methanol/ammonia, and hydrogen.

• Propulsion: Large water jets/linear jets.

 

Possible routes in the Mediterranean area:

 

Marseilles – Barcelona

Marseilles - Malaga

Marseilles – North Africa

Marseilles – Genoa

Marseilles – Greece/Turkey

Genoa – Greece/Turkey

Genoa – North Africa

Trieste/Venice – Greece/Turkey

And others

​

Nice Green Ferries (NGF), Nice, is currently considering the possibility of building such ferries and introducing them to several of the aforementioned routes. This work will need be done in close cooperation with local port authorities and suitable local ferry operators. The ferries will be built at a European shipyard, in close partnership with some of Europe’s leading equipment suppliers.

Ropax Cruise Ferry (135 m):

• Capacity: 1,200 passengers and 400 cars

• Transit speed: 16 kts

• Low/zero NOX/CO2 emissions

• Power sources: A variety of Wabtec (DF) diesels, Amogy power packs and batteries charged by wind mills and solar cells.

• Multifuel options: Ammonia/cracker/fuel cells and biofuel/MDO.

​

​

Luxury Cruise Ship (160 m):

• Capacity: 500 passengers

• Transit speed: up to 16 kts

• Low/zero NOX/CO2 emissions

• Power sources: A variety of ammonia/cracker/fuel cells, biofuel/MDO (dual fuel) and sun/wind/batteries (as required).

​

​

High-speed Aluminium Catamaran (40 m):

• Capacity: 300 passengers (or as required, with outdoor seats.)

• Transit speed: 30-36 kts

• Zero emission/electric drive for certain periods/distances (to be agreed).

• Power sources: Semi-electrically powered twin MJP water jets using fuel cells, diesel engines (DF) and batteries.

• Multifuel options: Ammonia, biofuel/MDO (enclosed in the two hulls).

​

​

Superfast RORO/RoPax (180 m):

• Vessel with a special, slender hull form designed to transport trucks, cars and passengers.

• Capacity: 1,500 lane meters for trucks, 400 cars on the lower deck and cabins for 200-1,000 passengers (as required).

• Transit speed: 35 kts

• Propulsion: MJP water jets

• Power plant: modern common rail MAN (DF) diesels, one Siemens (DF) gas turbine, fuel cells/batteries and wind mills.

• Can use multifuel: MDO/biofuel/ammonia/hydrogen (as required).   ​

NGF has recently joined an international ship development consortium to expand ship technologies and strengthen the position of hydrogen in the fuel supply chain. The consortium includes the following companies which all specialise in new technologies:

 

• Green Ships AS, Norway: responsible for ship designs and shipyard negotiations.

• Chart Industries, Inc (NYSE: GTLS): who have extensive experience in design and development of cryogenic based complete liquid hydrogen plants (including for the space industry). The scope of supply will include design and delivery of cryogenic tanks, fuelling stations, liquefaction systems, manifolds, and hydrogen fuel gas distribution systems.

• Unitrove, UK: a company that provides zero-emission fuelling infrastructure technologies and bunkering solutions for liquid hydrogen. The company is preparing to deliver large commercial volumes of green liquid hydrogen on a regular basis to NGF by 2025.

 

NGF plans to initially power its ferries and cruise ships by using renewable energy such as batteries and dual fuel hydrogen, but eventually to have the ships run on 100% hydrogen. From day one, when entering and exiting ports, the ships will be emission free by using batteries and renewable energies. Shore power will not be needed whilst in the ports.

 

NGF (Nice Green Ferries, Nice, France), has simultaneously been working on establishing a 135-meter/1,200 passenger Ropax Cruise ferry operation from Nice to the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, as well as a 160-meter/ 500 passenger luxury cruise ship operation in the Mediterranean and other regions. Nice has been selected as the home port for both operations.

 

The two electric powered ships are to be built according to DNV classification rules and regulations. The environmentally friendly ships will need low energy levels to obtain required speeds thanks to their modern slender hull forms, advanced Voith Propulsion units and built-in roll active reduction systems. The ships will feature various energy systems including renewable solar and wind power, combined with energy storage in large batteries and dual fuel hydrogen.

 

Low/zero emission levels will soon be required from several port authorities in compliance with IMO regulations for NOX emissions, and other regulations for CO2 emissions in the EU, such as the Paris Agreement. While other existing ferry companies will have to adapt to comply with the new maritime regulations, as well as impending the taxes and fines on fossil fuels, NGF is already in compliance and as such, is ahead of the curve.

NGF have, for several years, worked on two projects simultaneously: environmentally friendly RoPax cruise ferries and medium-sized luxury cruise ships. The focus has been on establishing certain agreements with the port of Nice/CCI concerning the design parameters for two new zero emission 135metre RoPax ferries, which would have their base in Nice and run daily routes to Corsica and Sardinia. Also in discussion, has been the operational requirements and environmental constraints of the ships which are to be built in a European shipyard and planned to be in operation by 2024/2025.

​

Without any immediate political support or signed agreement from the owners of Nice Port (CCI/Metropole), NGF cannot currently secure the financial support required for this project and have for this reason, decided to pause the RoPax ferry initiative. Instead, NGF will re-align and focus on the second part of the project – the luxury cruise ships.

 

The cruise ships, of approximately 140metres and 500 passengers, have been designed to fit into all quays in the port of Nice as well as other small ports in the wider Mediterranean Sea where several well-known and popular ports/destinations have already contacted NGF to express interest.

 

The two planned cruise ships have capacity to operate all year around from the port of Nice, with itineraries of 3, 4, 7 and 14 days. The ships will be built with modern shallow water hulls and run on several environmentally friendly multi-fuels:

 

• Clean Diesel oil

• Hydrogen as available. (The ships are prepared for hydrogen).

• Large size batteries chargeable by Renewable Energy from sun and wind

• Solar panels

• Windmills

 

In addition, no shore power will be required. The engines will be shut down whilst in the ports and the ships can embark with zero emission by using batteries only, or hydrogen if required. Furthermore, when the cruise ships are within a three-kilometre radius of any coast, they will run on zero emission by using renewable energy.

​

The cruise ships have been designed with the goal to be the most environmentally friendly ships ever built. NGF have never considered using liquified natural gas (LNG) as a main fuel because the Methanol produced by such exhausts is 20 times more dangerous for the environment than CO2 and even though other projects are starting to “clean” LNG, it can never be emission free.

​

Other reasons to avoid LNG:

• Large and expensive tanks/hull spaces

• High installation cost

• Very expensive LNG

• Problem with fuelling in the ports

 

The cruise industry has, according to recent press releases, encountered financial problems with subsequent sharply falling share values. This may be due to many reasons including heavy loans, the knock-on effect of Covid-19, airport issues, inflation, etc. Moreover, the larger cruise ships holding up to 6000 passengers, have not been designed to be sufficiently environmentally friendly and may soon be prohibited from using several ports. This includes the most recent ships delivered and launched.

 

On this basis, smaller and environmentally superior cruise ships may have a more successful future and NGF is pioneering this idea with their cruise ship project.

 

Nice, and the Cote d’Azur, is a well-known and popular luxury travel destination with continuous and thriving tourism all year around. With operations from Nice, NGF believes the demand and market is already there for this project.​

NGF will need around 1000 m3/week. The agreement would involve: a price estimation and a full supply chain system, to selected ports.

The agreement is to be effective from mid-2023, so we urgently need to  find a suitable partnership that will strive with us for emission free ports and a cleaner climate, as set out by the Paris agreement.”

​

Since its inception, NGF has been in line with both the IMO TIER 3 regulations and the Paris agreement, using a modern/futuristic power plant with dual fuel (hydrogen, marine diesel oil- MDO) and clean renewable energy from wind and solar power.

The two RoPax Cruise ferries are small (135 m), have very modern hull lines and reach only medium speeds (up to 16Kts) on the selected routes. This alone will cut CO2 emissions considerably and use roughly 50% of the power and fuel consumption of other ships with the same passenger & car capacity.