“We are very pleased to be able to work on such an exciting project. Since the development of the world’s first electric ferry, MF Ampere, Norled has worked with zero-emission solutions for both ferries and express boats. The ferry sector has come a long way with electrification. Now it’s the turn of the express boats, and it’s a milestone that Kolumbus and Fjellstrand are now building a fully electric express boat,” says Heidi Wolden, CEO of Norled.
Together with Kolumbus and Fjellstrand, Norled will provide technical assistance in ship design, electrical engineering, navigation, safety and energy consumption. In addition, Norled will follow up the construction of the vessel, draw up an operation and maintenance program, and participate in the planning of testing and completion. The work will start in May this year and continue until the vessel is ready for testing and completion in March 2022.
The vessel will be put into regular service and will be operated by Norled on Kolumbus’ routes to Byøyene and Hommersåk. The express boat will be 30 meters long, 9 meters wide and will have a cruising speed of 23 knots. The vessel will be built at the Fjellstrand AS shipyard.
About the TrAM project:
Through the EU’s Horizon 2020 program, the TrAM project (Transport Advanced and Modular), for which Kolumbus is the project manager, has received funding to develop new methods for the design and production of zero-emission passenger vessels. The aim of the project is to reduce the investment costs and delivery time of future zero-emission vessels for inland passenger traffic.
