Nice Green Ferries meets the criteria for new stringent emission regulations
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:
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Summer season (May 1st – October 1st) - The ships will operate in Scandinavia/west coast of Norway up to Svalbard.
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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.
Nice Green Ferries is planning to build two cruise ships to be available from the 1st of January 2026, with another two as an option at a later stage.
