Havila Voyages announced that at the end of November, the Havila Polaris will be filled with pure liquefied biogas for a historic voyage along the Norwegian coast.

The sailing will prove that climate neutrality in the next tender on the coastal route is possible and that using biogas in the future will both cut greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to more jobs along the coast.

On November 26, the Havila Polaris will fill 200 cubic meters of liquefied biogas at Polarbase outside Hammerfest. When the ship arrives in Bergen on November 30, it will fill an additional 150 cubic meters.

The total amount of biogas will be sufficient to operate Havila Polaris for a full round-trip along the coastal route, in combination with the ship’s large battery packs, according to the company.

“With this voyage, we aim to prove that it is entirely possible to operate the entire coastal route climate-neutrally,” said CEO Bent Martini.

“Since announcing this sailing during Arendalsuka in August this year, we have worked with our gas suppliers, Barents Naturgass and Molgas, to secure enough biogas to carry out the voyage. We are pleased that the delivery is now confirmed,” added Martini.

“The amount of biogas we will have on board is significant and will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions from this voyage by more than 90 percent.”

Hurtigruten announced earlier last week that they will fill their coastal ship Richard With with biodiesel at the end of October and carry out a similar reduced-emission voyage.

“Looking ahead, and by the end of 2028, we aim to operate solely on biogas. This gas will be produced and sourced along the Norwegian coast. It’s short-traveled, will create local jobs and strengthen the value chains along our route,” he added.

“As a Norwegian company with Norwegian ownership, this is important to us and it makes our solution even more valuable for the local communities we serve every day, all year round.”

Havila’s ships are currently powered by a combination of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and large battery packs.

“When it comes to greenhouse gas reductions, we already far exceed the minimum 25 percent CO₂ reduction requirement set by the Norwegian authorities in the current contract. We want to go further,” said Martini.

Switching to biogas will not require any technical modifications, the company said.

Despite the biogas bunkering in both Hammerfest and Bergen, the biogas will be mixed with the existing natural gas already in the Havila Polaris’s tanks, as it’s not possible to pump out the remaining gas, nor would it be wise to arrive with an almost-empty tank.