STORY / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
Norwegian maritime industry is charting a cleaner course
- Published 8 December 2025; updated 25 March 2026; estimated reading time 5 minutes. The article says shipping and fisheries account for 10–15% of Norway’s GDP and that more than half of Norwegian exports come from maritime sectors, citing an external academic source. It notes shipping contributes about 3% of global greenhouse-gas emissions and frames the industry’s work against the IMO’s net-zero-by-2050 ambition.
- Randi Johanne Sæther Bakken, a maritime trainee at Havila Voyages, describes entering the sector through coastal upbringing and a school ship-design project with a local shipyard. With mechanical-engineering training, she now collects ship-operation data—fuel consumption, nautical miles and onboard temperatures—with crews to identify emissions reductions.
- Norway’s maritime clusters bring shipowners, yards, suppliers, researchers, designers and government/regulatory bodies together. The article says this collaborative model and harsh-sea testing help Norway act as a proving ground for maritime technology. Havila Voyages is described as a family-owned company established in the 1950s and as having Norway’s second-largest coastal-cruise fleet. Its ships use energy-recovery systems to charge batteries with excess heat.
- HAV Group’s LNGameChanger project is developing a lower-emissions system for LNG-powered ships. Partners named are HAV Group, Molgas Norway and SINTEF. The concept combines solid-oxide fuel cells with onboard capture, storage and liquefaction of CO₂. HAV R&D manager and project lead Siv Randi Hjørungnes says the project also addresses shore/harbour infrastructure needed to use the technology while docked.
- Four Havila coastal ships between Bergen and Kirkenes are described as using batteries and LNG; their batteries allow reduced fuel use in sensitive fjord areas. Norwegian shore-power provider Plug has supplied infrastructure at Bergen port so ships can connect while berthed, shut off onboard generators and use shore electricity for hotel loads, reducing local emissions and noise. Plug CEO Maria Boss says operators need to provide vessels capable of plugging in.
- The article says the transition is underway but incomplete, and quotes industry participants stressing collaboration, testing and developing solutions for the next generation of maritime workers. It was produced for Innovation Norway by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions and presented by IPFA in the “Transforming Tomorrow” series; a video is linked.
- Related examples: Havila Voyages hybrid cruise ships, HAV Group/LNGameChanger, Plug shore power, Bergen port. Related industries: Transportation and Maritime. No direct page contact block is shown.