by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:40 AM ET, Wed September 11, 2019
Hurtigruten's new expedition cruise ship MS Roald Amundsen became the first battery-hybrid powered ship to ever traverse the legendary Northwest Passage last week.
As the MS Roald Amundsen arrived at its destination in Nome, Alaska on September 10, Captain Kai Albrigtsen said in the ship's logbook, "The first complete passage of the more than 3.000 nautical miles passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, by hybrid propulsion."
The innovative ship was named after Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian polar pioneer who made the first complete passage connecting the East and West in 1906.
"Every expedition cruise with Hurtigruten is unique, yet this green milestone is literally making history with our guests," Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam said in a statement. "Only a few years ago, building cruise ships with battery packs was considered impossible; now the MS Roald Amundsen pays tribute to the great explorer she is named after by traversing one of the world's most fabled stretches of sea by hybrid propulsion."
The vessel has been equipped with large battery packs and groundbreaking technology that have helped reduce emissions of the expedition cruise ship by more than 20 percent.
After traversing the Northwest Passage, the MS Roald Amundsen will sail along the coast of North- and South America before spending the winter offering cruises in Antarctica. In Summer 2020, the ship will return to North America for a series of voyages in Alaska.
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