Hurtigruten aims to set new standards for the entire travel industry, especially in its sustainability efforts, as we enter a new era of expedition cruising and adventure tourism.
As the world’s largest expedition cruise line that operates from pole to pole and across the entire Atlantic, Hurtigruten recognizes that the footprint it leaves behind has to be one to be proud of. Luckily, the cruise line is taking the lead in successful sustainability operations by preventing degradation by mass tourism, respecting indigenous communities and providing life changing experiences without leaving permanent impacts.
With its footprint in mind, Hurtigruten’s position comes with great responsibility as it strives for sustainable operations and destinations through daily operations, sourcing and partners.
When thinking about sustainability, many travelers don’t consider the actual people in the destinations and how tourism can impact them. “For us, it’s far beyond just having the greenest fleet, and one aspect is the local communities and especially the indigenous communities,” says Storm Tussey-Haverly, the interim president of Hurtigruten Americas. Since 1893, Hurtigruten has operated in close cooperation and in partnership with local communities, mainly along the Norwegian coast for the first hundred years, where Samis were the local indigenous population. After expanding, it has taken that knowledge and applied it to working with the local communities in Greenland, Arctic Canada and Alaska. “It’s imperative that we contribute to the livelihoods and welfare of small coastal societies by engaging local competence when and where possible,” says Tussey-Haverly. According to Tussey-Haverly, in certain Canadian Inuit communities that are new cruise destinations, Hurtigruten helps train the locals to take advantage of the new opportunities to better fit and benefit their communities financially.
Hurtigruten is also a founding member of the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators, which is dedicated to managing responsible, environmentally friendly and safe tourism in the Arctic. Hurtigruten has made the well-being of indigenous communities a priority for the AECO as well, Tussey-Haverly says. The Hurtigruten Foundation is also a major contributor to sustainable tourism on and off their fleet. “Through this foundation, we make sure that the fees we’re paying in ports support the local people and communities,” says Tussey-Haverly. The Hurtigruten Foundation has given out grants to support various projects that benefit local schools and students. “We also train the people to become tour guides, or if they are artists, we provide guidance on what art will most likely sell the best to tourists, and not just those traveling on our ships, but any cruise ships visiting that destination,” she says.
Unfortunately, the pause on cruising in 2020 did affect some of Hurtigruten’s social responsibility initiatives — including several it had planned for the Hurtigruten Foundation. However, in early August 2021, the cruise line announced its first managing director for the foundation, which Tussey-Haverly says “will give us even more focus on critical matters where our guests and our foundation can make a difference.” She further explains that from 2020’s pause on cruising, Hurtigruten saw significant impacts in its Citizen Science programs, where guests participate in a wide variety of research and cleanup projects. “We carry out beach cleanups in many destinations we sail to, which hasn’t happened for about a year and a half, so we know that it has had a significant negative impact on the environment,” she says. These aren’t the only challenges Hurtigruten faces today in terms of moving forward with sustainability endeavors.
It’s not always smooth sailing when it comes to sustainable cruising
Climate change, dirty fuel, plastic waste and unsustainable mass tourism are some of the main components of the most difficult challenges Hurtigruten faces today when it comes to sustainability. According to Tussey-Haverly, Hurtigruten has advocated for a global ban on heavy fuel oil for many years. HFO is one of the world’s dirtiest fuels; it’s extremely difficult to clean up in the event of a spill, and produces higher levels of air and climate pollutants than any other marine fuels.
“With leading environmental agencies such as Clean Arctic Alliance and European Climate Foundation, Hurtigruten is spearheading a campaign to ban the use of HFO in Arctic waters and along the Norwegian coast,” Tussey-Haverly says. “After operating in these waters for more than 125 years, we see no other option. It does not make sense to bring more pollution, more risk, to areas that need less. Given the severe risks that heavy fuel oil poses to polar environments, the international shipping community has already banned its use in the Antarctic. However, we really believe it is time to provide the Arctic with the same protection with its unique local communities and fragile ecosystems — and for that to happen as soon as possible.”
When it comes to plastic waste, Hurtigruten was the first major travel company to remove single-use plastic from its ships, restaurants and hotels. Hurtigruten’s plastic reduction program consists of the following changes for more than 2,500 staff/crew and 500,000 guests on board: Plastic straws have been replaced by metal, as stir pins are no longer used — and the same with plastic cups wrapped in plastic, plastic cutlery, plastic bags, plastic lids on coffee cups, plastic toothpicks, plastic aprons, single-use packaging of butter, and all other single-use plastic items that Hurtigruten’s guests and employees encounter on a day-to-day basis. Tussey-Haverly says, “The idea was conceived and brought to realization by one of our expedition crew members. It took five months and saves 32 metric tons of plastic every year. If the entire industry followed these measures, it would save 4,700 tons each year.” It’s crystal clear that Hurtigruten is passionate about facing these challenges. “With those numbers, it should be incentive enough for all other cruise lines to follow,” she says.
What’s on the horizon for Hurtigruten?
Tussey-Haverly is looking ahead to the future eco-friendly endeavors for Hurtigruten and its partners. “We are tremendously excited about our partnership with California Ocean Alliance and we recently announced the strengthening and extension of our partnership with them,” she says. COA will join Hurtigruten for three sailings in January and February of 2022, on board what was the world’s first battery hybrid powered ship back in 2019, MS Roald Amundsen. The team from COA will work alongside Hurtigruten Expeditions’ onboard expedition teams to provide unique, educational opportunities for passengers through lectures, demonstrations and real-time analysis of scientific data. COA will collect acoustic data to study ambient noise conditions, the myriad sounds that marine animals make, and the influence of human presence on the soundscape. The research will also show Hurtigruten and other cruise lines how different whales behave near humans, so Hurtigruten and other cruise lines can adapt to ensure that they minimize interference with the whales. There are other popular science programs making serious waves in the industry with Hurtigruten that include surveying the penguin population, studying leopard seals or researching seabird distribution, among many other programs.
As for additional cruise lines that have been inspired by Hurtigruten’s sustainability initiatives or implementing their own, Tussey-Haverly is optimistic. “I honestly hope we have inspired a number of our competitors, and we encourage them to implement them in their businesses as it will only help improve the oceans, the wildlife and the local communities overall,” she says. We really are all in this together.
Doing good beyond the cruise
Here’s what Hurtigruten has been up to behind the scenes in respecting and protecting wildlife and the destinations it explores:
- Building the first-ever hybrid-electric powered expedition cruise ships
- Removing single-use plastic from entire fleet and hotels (the first-ever major travel company to achieve this)
- Investing in education for guests and creating ambassadors for every destination on every voyage by actively engaging guests in local cultures they visit, the ecosystems they explore and the consequences of climate change they observe
By the numbers
Hurtigruten’s business and operational practices directly impact a variety of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those linked with responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water and beyond. Hurtigruten believes this is where it has the greatest opportunity to make a positive impact — for society and for business practices currently and in the future.
- 9 industry, innovation and infrastructure goals
- 11 sustainable cities and community goals
- 12 responsible consumption and production goals
- 13 climate action goals
- 14 life below water goals
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