ban cruise ships reddit

• Holland America Line

Norway Fjord Restricted in 2025

By St Pete Cruiser , July 14, 2023 in Holland America Line

Recommended Posts

St Pete Cruiser

We were advised onboard the Noordam back in April that Norway will restrict cruise ships from entering their "best" Unisco fjords beginning in 2025, unless they are zero emissions powered. Read electric as LNG still have emissions. Hurtigruten has a diesel powered ship that can run on battery as do some Scandinavian ferries. A friend forwarded a pic of the Viking Jupiter in Eidfjord along with the Statendam showing the blue emissions from the Jupiter despite Vikings claim of being a clean hybrid ship. I can understand Norway's reluctance to have their pristine fjords polluted. 

Link to comment

Share on other sites.

This is old news.

3 minutes ago, St Pete Cruiser said: We were advised onboard the Noordam back in April that Norway will restrict cruise ships from entering their "best" Unisco fjords beginning in 2025, unless they are zero emissions powered. Read electric as LNG still have emissions. Hurtigruten has a diesel powered ship that can run on battery as do some Scandinavian ferries. A friend forwarded a pic of the Viking Jupiter in Eidfjord along with the Statendam showing the blue emissions from the Jupiter despite Vikings claim of being a clean hybrid ship. I can understand Norway's reluctance to have their pristine fjords polluted.   

Not sure where you are getting your information regarding Viking. At no time have Viking stated that the Jupiter, which was ocean ship # 6, is a clean hybrid ship. The Jupiter has 4 medium speed prime movers in a diesel/electric system, with exhaust gas scrubbers. It has no LNG or Hydrogen propulsion options. The Jupiter is a clean ship, but is not zero emission.

Your photo may have white balance issues, as having spent 100 days on ship # 4, most of the emissions were white, which is mostly steam or water vapour.

Viking's hybrid ships are starting with the latest ship ( # 10), which has a small hydrogen fuel cell, with the technology being expanded in the next vessel (# 11) entering service next year.

cruisemom42

Also, the ban on certain UNESCO enrolled fjords (including Geiranger and Flam) does not begin until January 1, 2026, so the 2025 season is still planned.

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said: Also, the ban on certain UNESCO enrolled fjords (including Geiranger and Flam) does not begin until January 1, 2026, so the 2025 season is still planned.    

You are correct. Thanks. Two seasons after this year.

Trade publications written with information supplied by Viking/Fincantieri have claimed that they are hybrid ships. Even Viking's own publications:

" Viking Star   and her sister ships feature energy-efficient hybrid engines, a hydrodynamically optimized streamlined hull for maximum fuel efficiency and equipment that limits exhaust."

11 hours ago, Heartgrove said: Trade publications written with information supplied by Viking/Fincantieri have claimed that they are hybrid ships. Even Viking's own publications:   " Viking Star   and her sister ships feature energy-efficient hybrid engines, a hydrodynamically optimized streamlined hull for maximum fuel efficiency and equipment that limits exhaust."  

I also read lots of trade publications and have been in the Engine Room of Viking Sun. They are fitted with 4 x MAN 32/44 Common Rail, medium speed diesels capable of burning heavy FO in a Diesel/Electric configuration, which is standard for most cruise ships. Two are 9 cylinder and the other two are 12 cylinder.

When in the Engine Room, we were not advised of any high voltage batteries that would be required for a hybrid system and I have not seen any publication mention batteries. When I looked at the power distribution board I do not recall seeing any input source from high voltage batteries.

I have sailed with similar MAN engines and they certainly weren't hybrids.

4 hours ago, Heidi13 said:   I also read lots of trade publications and have been in the Engine Room of Viking Sun. They are fitted with 4 x MAN 32/44 Common Rail, medium speed diesels capable of burning heavy FO in a Diesel/Electric configuration, which is standard for most cruise ships. Two are 9 cylinder and the other two are 12 cylinder.   When in the Engine Room, we were not advised of any high voltage batteries that would be required for a hybrid system and I have not seen any publication mention batteries. When I looked at the power distribution board I do not recall seeing any input source from high voltage batteries.   I have sailed with similar MAN engines and they certainly weren't hybrids.

Yes, I agree with you with that being the case. My point is the quote I provided is from Viking's own website. It is Viking that is referring to their ships as "hybrids."  This is the page that has the quote I referenced.

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/video/ships/viking-star-built-to-be-green/play.html

I would note that the two new Princess builds (to be delivered in the next 2 years)  and some future RCI ships will be powered by LNG.  I have also wondered how long before some environmental groups force a similar "zero-emission" policy for cruises to places like Glacier Bay.

How do they charge the batteries with zero emissions? Even if you charge from solar, there are a lot of emissions to make the panels.

I guess this means sail only and there are going to be bunch of sailboats stuck against the fjord walls until the wind changes.

44 minutes ago, POA1 said: How do they charge the batteries with zero emissions? Even if you charge from solar, there are a lot of emissions to make the panels.   I guess this means sail only and there are going to be bunch of sailboats stuck against the fjord walls until the wind changes.

From what I've read I gather they are thinking of some type of dual system with batteries + an alternate source of fuel. The batteries would be used for cruising the fjords. Once clear of the protected fjords, the alternate power source could be used (and I suppose could also be employed to recharge the batteries).

Currently I think battery power for this usage is up to about 4 hours but that is anticipated to increase. This is all gleaned from various online sources, some of which may not be fully current.

2 hours ago, Hlitner said: I would note that the two new Princess builds (to be delivered in the next 2 years)  and some future RCI ships will be powered by LNG.  I have also wondered how long before some environmental groups force a similar "zero-emission" policy for cruises to places like Glacier Bay.   Hank

I was not aware that Princess had any new builds coming. 

The Holland America staff always say LNG is too limited in locations they cruise to.

14 minutes ago, St Pete Cruiser said: I was not aware that Princess had any new builds coming.  The Holland America staff always say LNG is too limited in locations they cruise to.

The two new Princess ships are a new class (175,000 tons) 4000 capacity that are said to be partially powered by LNG,  I am assuming (and this is all speculation) that they will have kind of backup power that uses traditional fuel.  The issue of availability of LNG has been discussed (elsewhere on CC) and can be an issue in some parts of the world.  But we are told that with more commercial ships using LNG, the availability should rapidly improve.  

When we first heard about the trend towards LNG, my first thought was that LNG might pose some new risk of accident/explosion.  A few of the mariner experts here on CC, one of whom was a chief engineer (on cruise ships and other commercial vessels) said that LNG is quite safe in a marine environment.  You can google "LNG powered ships" and read some interesting articles.  I believe that CCL has ordered 4 LNG powered ships (2 for Princess and 2 for Aida) although my info might no longer be correct.

Havila Voyages, which is the new competitor for Hurtigruten in Norway, currently has two ships and soon will have four. They are true hybrids as they depend on batteries recharged by their diesel engines and can sail up to four hours on batteries alone.

MSC began sailing their new ship MSC Euribia on voyages to Norway in June that is fueled by LNG. A duel-fuel diesel engine can be configured to use LNG and switch back to diesel fuel by the flick of a switch. Normally it will burn 98% LNG and 2% Diesel but can run on 100% diesel as well. The 2% diesel when on LNG helps with the lubrication of the fuel system.

AIDA is currently sailing the AIDAnova and has taken delivery of AIDAcosmo,  both are LNG fueled cruise ships.

2 hours ago, POA1 said: I guess this means sail only and there are going to be bunch of sailboats stuck against the fjord walls until the wind changes.

I don't know why, but I keep getting mental flashes of a Roman Galley with a crew of vegan oarsmen.  Is that ecologically friendly? hybrid? or just plain bonkers?  🤪

29 minutes ago, VMax1700 said: I don't know why, but I keep getting mental flashes of a Roman Galley with a crew of vegan oarsmen.  Is that ecologically friendly? hybrid? or just plain bonkers?  🤪          

Since we're talking about the fjords here, a Viking longship with plenty of brawny Viking rowers might be more apt?

13 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:   Since we're talking about the fjords here, a Viking longship with plenty of brawny Viking rowers might be more apt?  

whatever turns you on  😉 🤣

I suppose that should really be: 'whatever rocks your boat'  😉

I was trying to work out which would possibly be the most vegan and none really filled that criteria.

2 hours ago, Heartgrove said: Havila Voyages, which is the new competitor for Hurtigruten in Norway, currently has two ships and soon will have four. They are true hybrids as they depend on batteries recharged by their diesel engines and can sail up to four hours on batteries alone.   MSC began sailing their new ship MSC Euribia on voyages to Norway in June that is fueled by LNG. A duel-fuel diesel engine can be configured to use LNG and switch back to diesel fuel by the flick of a switch. Normally it will burn 98% LNG and 2% Diesel but can run on 100% diesel as well. The 2% diesel when on LNG helps with the lubrication of the fuel system.   AIDA is currently sailing the AIDAnova and has taken delivery of AIDAcosmo,  both are LNG fueled cruise ships.    

Right!! The Norwegians are serious people. As major oil exporters, they've built hydro projects to power domestic consumption. Enough to export power to their neighbours.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Norway

Leading the way.

10 hours ago, Heartgrove said:   Yes, I agree with you with that being the case. My point is the quote I provided is from Viking's own website. It is Viking that is referring to their ships as "hybrids."  This is the page that has the quote I referenced.   https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/video/ships/viking-star-built-to-be-green/play.html

I read their marketing materials, prior to booking the World Cruise with them. A little more research indicated they had exercised some literary liberties, expanding the truth somewhat. However, with respect to the new buildings, they will be, or closer to zero emissions.

Haven't researched hydrogen fuel cells, as I have never sailed with them, but note even LPG, which is cleaner burning, still needs to be mixed with some diesel for combustion. 

7 hours ago, Hlitner said: I would note that the two new Princess builds (to be delivered in the next 2 years)  and some future RCI ships will be powered by LNG.  I have also wondered how long before some environmental groups force a similar "zero-emission" policy for cruises to places like Glacier Bay.   Hank

If Glacier Bay goes "zero emission", the LNG burning ships won't meet that criteria. LNG burns cleaner, but is used in dual fuel engines, with a small amount of diesel (about 2 - 5%), which is required for combustion.

My last command has since been converted to LNG, but she still uses a good amount of diesel every day.

6 hours ago, POA1 said: How do they charge the batteries with zero emissions? Even if you charge from solar, there are a lot of emissions to make the panels.   I guess this means sail only and there are going to be bunch of sailboats stuck against the fjord walls until the wind changes.

The Norwegians have zero emission ships that use solar panels. They also have smaller vessels using hydrogen fuel cells. Viking, I believe is the first cruise line, to plan for hydrogen fuel cell technology on larger ships.

I don't research as thoroughly in retirement, but I don't believe the hydrogen fuel cell technology for larger vessels has received Class approval, as yet. Since Viking have publicly announced that the next vessel will include this technology, I can only assume Viking, the shipyard and Class are working on approvals, as the ship is built.

Hopefully the Chief can assist, as he has an engineering background @chengkp75  

Neither hydrogen fuel cells nor solar panels are truly zero emissions. I'm pretty sure that you are limited to sail and tides. (I'm not aware of any ship sized hydroelectric.)

If I'm wrong and you can find fuel cells and solar panels in nature, I apologize.

7 minutes ago, POA1 said: Neither hydrogen fuel cells nor solar panels are truly zero emissions. I'm pretty sure that you are limited to sail and tides. (I'm not aware of any ship sized hydroelectric.)   If I'm wrong and you can find fuel cells and solar panels in nature, I apologize.

If you are considering the manufacturing of the solar panels and hydrogen, followed by shipping to the end user and installation, then I concur they are not truly zero emission. Using that analogy, neither is sail truly zero emission, as some type of power is required for manufacturing the sails, masts, stays and associated hardware. Having used a manual palm & needle stitching canvas, I am well aware that it is impractical to complete even the extensive stitching on a sail manually.

The sailboat, while not producing emissions from the means of propulsion (once installed) still requires the production of power for operational systems and pax/crew requirements. Since the sails don't provide any electric power, the vessel still has to generate power.

Once installed and operational on a ship, I am not aware of any propulsion emissions from a solar vessel. Yes, the fuel cells emits water vapour and heated air, both of which are acceptable in zero emission zones. 

I want to thank both Heidi13 and chengkp (who is lurking somewhere) for all the professional mariner knowledge they contribute to these CC boards.  They have both taught me a lot about the industry.

One more industry that can be saved by nuclear power - long-term US Navy best practices can show the cruise industry the way.

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in

• Welcome to Cruise Critic
• New Cruisers
• Cruise Lines “A – O”
• Cruise Lines “P – Z”
• River Cruising
• Cruise Critic News & Features
• Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
• Special Interest Cruising
• Cruise Discussion Topics
• UK Cruising
• Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
• Canadian Cruisers
• North American Homeports
• Ports of Call
• Cruise Conversations

Announcements

• New to Cruise Critic? Join our Community!

Write Your Own Amazing Review !

Click this gorgeous photo by member SUPERstar777 to share your review!

Features & News

LauraS · Started Thursday at 07:37 PM

LauraS · Started Thursday at 04:48 PM

LauraS · Started Thursday at 04:19 PM

LauraS · Started Thursday at 03:29 PM

LauraS · Started Tuesday at 11:57 PM

• Existing user? Sign in OR Create an Account
• Find Your Roll Call
• Meet & Mingle
• Community Help Center
• All Activity
• Member Photo Albums
• Meet & Mingle Photos
• Favorite Cruise Memories
• Cruise Food Photos
• Cruise Ship Photos
• Ports of Call Photos
• Towel Animal Photos
• Amazing, Funny & Totally Awesome Cruise Photos
• Write a Review
• Live Cruise Reports
• Member Cruise Reviews
• Create New...

Photos show why cities around the world are limiting cruise ships — from Barcelona to Key West

• The Port of Barcelona shut down cruise operations at one of the city's major terminals in October. 
• Several major European cities and US ports have placed limits on cruise tourism in recent years. 
• From air pollution to overcrowding, these photos shed light on why local residents are concerned.

On October 2, the Port of Barcelona hosted a "farewell ceremony" to bid ado to the last cruise ship to dock at a major downtown terminal, marking the first phase of the city's multi-year plan to move cruise operations away from residential areas.

Similar scenes have played out around the world in recent years, as major European cities and US ports place limits on cruise ships to combat overcrowding and pollution .

When the cruise industry shut down during the pandemic, coastal communities had a taste of life without mega ships looming over their shores. In the years since, ports in Amsterdam, Venice, Maine, Florida, California, and Alaska have all moved to restrict cruise tourism.

But as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Take a look at these striking photos and see for yourself why more cities are saying no to cruise ships.

The Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group representing the cruise industry, did not respond to a request for comment.

Modern cruise ships are so big that they're known as "floating cities."

Source: Insider

The Wonder of the Seas, the largest cruise ship currently in service, can hold about 7,000 passengers.

But it won't hold that title for much longer — Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas, launching in 2024, will be even more massive.

Source: Insider , The New York Times

Now imagine all those passengers arriving in a city all at once.

The increasingly large ships can take a toll on infrastructure that isn't built to withstand their sheer size, let alone that many people.

In 2019, the MSC Opera cruise ship crashed into a dock in Venice's Giudecca canal, prompting local protests. Two years later, Italy banned large ships from entering the lagoon.

The largest cruise ships can carry up to 7,000 passengers who then disembark all at once. This can overwhelm smaller ports like Key West, an island in Florida with 26,000 residents.

Source: Insider , Insider , US Census

Officials say this influx of short-term visitors can exacerbate issues of over-tourism, especially as Europe faces a record number of travelers this summer.

Source: Insider, Bloomberg

Politicians in Barcelona and Amsterdam have compared cruise tourists with a "plague of locusts" who descend in hordes and overwhelm public spaces.

Sources: BBC , The Guardian

"Cruise ships in the center of the city don't fit in with Amsterdam's task of cutting the number of tourists," Ilana Rooderkerk, the leader of the liberal D66 party, said in July.

Cruise visitors often leave as quickly as they arrive. Studies have found conflicting results when calculating how much cruise tourists contribute to local economies.

Source: Stand.earth , CLIA

After a year without cruise ships, the Florida Keys still had "the strongest economy in the state of Florida," research by Key West's Committee for Safer, Cleaner Ships found.

Source: Safer, Cleaner Ships

But some store owners rely on cruise tourism. Bar Harbor, Maine, was sued by local businesses after the Maine town capped cruise visitors to 1,000 per day.

Source: The Portland Press Herald

Cruise lines have also been accused of insensitivity toward native cultures, with some experts arguing that cruises don't give travelers enough time to interact with and experience local culture.

Source: The Washington Post , The Islands of Tahiti , Ocean Panel

And then there are the environmental costs to consider.

As cruise lines figure out how to transition to sustainable energy, their fuel consumption leaves behind a hefty carbon footprint.

Carbon-dioxide emissions from cruise ships visiting European ports in 2022 were the equivalent of 50,000 flights from Paris and New York, according to the European Federation for Transport and Environment.

Ports are also concerned about air pollution: The same study found that the 63 cruise ships owned by Carnival released more toxic sulfur gasses than the cars in Europe.

The massive vessels also threaten fragile marine ecosystems, including Key West's barrier reef, an area of "critical concern," according to Safer, Cleaner Ships.

And ship strikes, which aren't limited to cruise vessels, kill more than 20,000 whales every year, according to the non-profit Friend of the Sea.

Source: Friend of the Sea

Earlier in October, members of the anti-cruise collective dressed as polar bears and walruses confronted guests disembarking the World Traveller cruise ship in Douarnenez, a small town in Brittany, France.

But as communities and local governments rethink their relationships with cruise lines, cruise ships remain a popular, affordable way to travel — with some companies seeing record success.

Source: Insider , Reuters

• Main content

Advertisement

COVID-19 or Not, Many Port Cities Want to Ban Cruise Ships

• Share Content on Facebook
• Share Content on LinkedIn
• Share Content on Flipboard
• Share Content on Reddit
• Share Content via Email

It seems an unlikely move, especially after an economically devastating pandemic. But port cities around the globe are snatching back their welcome mats, saying overtourism from cruise ships is more harmful than beneficial to their towns. And many citizens and small businesses agree.

Residents of Key West, Florida, voted in November 2020 to ban the largest cruise ships from their port, plus limit the number of passengers who can disembark daily to 1,500, a number less than half that of early 2020. Many say the throngs of cruise ship tourists are causing low-brow souvenir shops to proliferate in the city's historic downtown, while the massive ships wreak havoc offshore on fragile coral reefs and game fish. In the year that cruise ships have been grounded because of the COVID-19 pandemic, locals say the offshore waters have been cleaner, according to The Washington Post . And some small business owners say they aren't benefiting from the ships, either, as passengers typically aren't lingering long enough to patronize their restaurants, inns or boutiques.

In the Spanish island of Mallorca, more than 12,000 people signed a petition to similarly limit the number of cruise ships and passengers stopping in its Port of Palma, noting Palma is the second-most polluted port city in Europe, according to Transport & Environment, a sustainable transport group. The petition also says the throngs of passengers that swarm through Palma's streets create a theme park atmosphere that's causing residents to flee.

And over in Venice, the Italian city famed for its canals banned large cruise and container ships from the Venice Lagoon in early 2021, in part because the ships pollute the environment and erode the city's historic foundations. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee applauded the move, which it had been pushing for since 2014.

The Economic Impact of Cruising

Yet not everyone agrees that cruise ships should sail away, for cruising is big business. Some 30 million people boarded cruise ships in 2019, according to the 2021 State of the Cruise Industry report prepared by Cruise Lines International Association, or CLIA , the world's largest cruise industry trade association. That's up from 17.8 million in 2009, a 68 percent increase. More impressively, these 30 million cruisers powered an industry that employed 1.2 million people worldwide, while pumping more than $154 billion into the global economy.

And despite the COVID-19 pandemic that initially proliferated in cruise ships, the report says vacationers aren't worried about heading back out on the seas. Seventy-four percent of regular cruisers report they're likely to go on another one within the next few years, while an impressive 58 percent of international vacationers who have never cruised before are likely to do so, too, according to the report.

With so much business at stake, the Florida Legislature pushed back against Key West's cruise ship ban. In April 2021, the Legislature passed a transportation bill that included an amendment taking away the port city's right to restrict cruise ship operations. Backers argued restricting cruise ships will eliminate jobs and millions of dollars in cruise-related taxes for both Key West and other regions of the state that also benefit from the ships. (The bill now goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis for approval.)

In southeast Alaska, where cruising is a huge part of the economy, the absence of cruise tourists during the pandemic shutdown resulted in a $250 million hit to Ketchikan alone, a tiny port city with a population of just 8,500. In Galveston, Texas — one of North America's busiest home ports and the only cruise port in the state – COVID-related losses were estimated at 23,000 jobs and $1.2 billion in direct spending.

Ultimately, it's this kind of big money that will limit the number of ports slamming shut their doors, says Heidi Allison, travel consultant, president of CruiseCompete , a cruise-finder website and editor-in-chief of the blog All Things Cruise . "There are so many ports of call, people and small businesses that would love to have the cruise business," she says, especially after the economic losses caused by COVID-19. "I'll bet everyone will be happy to welcome back any kind of business they can get," she says.

Allison also notes that the cruise industry is working diligently to create balanced, sustainable tourism, but it's not a quick fix. "The problem is, you have these big cruise ships that, like cars, weren't built in the beginning to protect the environment," she says. "It takes years and years to adapt and change."

Cities and Cruise Ships Working Together

But change is in the works. CLIA's report says the industry has invested $23.5 billion in ships with new technologies, advanced wastewater treatment systems and cleaner fuels, plus is targeting a 40 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, compared to 2008. The industry is also working toward more shoreside electricity capability, where ships can turn off their diesel engines when in port and tap into the city's electrical grid instead.

Nice as this all sounds, port cities and cruise critics say more is needed. So CLIA has partnered with Dubrovnik, Croatia , for one, to better manage the arrival and departure of ships to reduce overcrowding in this UNESCO world heritage site. And Barcelona is working hard to promote itself as a home port . One of Europe's hardest-hit cities when it comes to cruise ship pollution and overcrowding, Barcelona prefers to welcome passengers who will hang out in town for a few days, rather than those who drop in for just an hour or two.

That's partly because passengers spend more money in home ports. CLIA's report says the average passenger in 2019 spent an average of $100 in port cities visited during a cruise, but a more substantial $385 in home ports visited before boarding a ship. Passengers staying in a city for a few days are also less disruptive to the area compared to the hundreds that often spill out of a ship during a short port stop, then race to the same few destinations.

Despite some valid issues brought up by cruise critics, cruising is likely here to stay. Millions love to sail the seas, and many others are financially dependent on the industry. The key to creating harmony between ships and port cities, as with so much in life, is cooperation, care and respect.

Florida is home to three of the world's busiest cruise ports , including PortMiami, the busiest of them all. In 2017, a whopping 5.6 million passengers and 1,185 ships stopped here. The state's other top cruise ports are Port Canaveral (No. 2) and Port Everglades (No. 4).

Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article:

• CruiseMapper
• Cruise news
• Norway to ban high-pollution cruise ships by 2026 in a move to...

Norway to ban high-pollution cruise ships by 2026 in a move to cut emissions

Norway, renowned for its stunning fjords, is gearing up to implement a bold move by banning certain types of cruise ships from its waters by 2026.

The government's initiative aims to address the pollution stemming from marine diesel fuel used by cruise ships, leading to restrictions on their access to Norwegian harbors.

Espen Barth Eide, Norway's foreign minister, highlights the industry's substantial environmental impact, citing the world's highest emissions per passenger and travel kilometer, particularly in the picturesque fjords.

The forthcoming zero-emission policy poses significant challenges for the cruise sector, prompting companies to explore alternatives such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) . MSC 's cruise ship, Euribia , already operates on LNG, and Royal Caribbean 's upcoming Icon of the Seas is set to follow suit upon her January launch.

While the cruise industry remains popular, it faces increasing scrutiny globally, with notable destinations like Amsterdam and Barcelona taking measures to restrict or relocate cruise activities. The move by Norway, expected to be enacted in 2026, raises concerns about the potential impact on tourism in fjord communities.

• Advertising
• Shipbuilding
• Coastal/Inland
• Law & Regulations

Catching Cruise Off-Guard: Norway’s zero-emissions fjord cruises

William Stoichevski May 23, 2019

Sail, solar … and battery power: a frontrunning design for n fjord-going, zero-emissions cruise ship. CREDIT: NCE Maritime CleanTech

Norway on Jan. 1, 2026, will begin a ban on cruise ships powering through the Unesco-listed heritage fjords on anything but zero-emissions propulsion. For now, that means battery power, but few of the 190 cruise ship calls to these fjords are made with that kind of electro-chemical fuel on board. From now until 2026, you can still cruise the fjords on a closed-loop, or in-line, scrubber system, but few cruise ships have these installed. The new rules mean cruising elsewhere, finding suppliers of energy storage systems or accepting novel zero-emissions solutions.

Western Norway’s UNESCO-designated Geiranger and Naeroy fjords start at the sea and terminate in picturesque villages, where a cloud of exhaust from visiting cruise ships tends to hang.   The plumes of visible emissions of particulate matter, carbon-dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and water vapor have been studied at length, and now the Norwegian government has had enough: The polluting ends Jan. 1st, 2026, and by 2030, the remaining Norwegian fjords will be made emissions-free zones.  

The studies by DNV GL, Marinetek and Sintef reveal that just 25 percent of cruise ships entering the fjords are running low-SOx and low-NOx systems aboard, including scrubbers. Most are on cleaner, low-sulfur distillate fuels for main and auxiliary engines, and about 10 percent run on bunker; 70 percent of cruise ships entering the protected fjords were built, on average, 20 years ago and lack the newer, greener tech.  

It was a 2018 Norwegian government debate on the embarrassing fjord clouds that led to the new zero-emissions ban on fossil fuels in passenger ships over 1,000 GT. The Norwegian Maritime Authority in coastal town Haugesund that will enforce the requirement that cruise calls in the fjords are electric-only. The NMA will also enforce the use of closed-loop exhaust scrubbers until 2016. Until then, too, European Emissions Control Areas rules for NOx and SOx will apply above Norway’s 62nd parallel of latitude (including the half of Geiranger fjord nearest the sea).

“It’ll definitely impact the (cruise industry),” says the NMA’s head of delegation to the IMO, Lars Christian Espenes. “It could be difficult for cruise ships, as only a handful are compliant.” He confirms that it’ll be battery power only or hybrid from 2026 on, admitting that “few are prepared” for the changes. That’s great news for Norway-based power-system integrators like Siemens, ABB, Kongsberg Maritime (formerly Rolls-Royce Marine) and a range of others with containerized or compartmentalized energy storage systems, or ESS, a battery or hybrid ships power and propulsion solution. Integrating battery power is also great for Canada-rooted battery outfit, Corvus Energy, a newly integral part of western Norway’s maritime clusters.

Visuals presented at the Miami trade show in April suggest the battery-laden “fjord pilot” could be the interim solution for fjord-going cruise vessels: batteries aboard the AHTS ship by 2026 ahead of new battery and other designs for cruise by 2030. The aim is to have the cruise ship in hotel mode, with hotel power streamed over from the AHTS. Technology now used to charge batteries at harbour would effect the power transfer under new harbour systems, now on the drawing board, are developed.

The sail-equipped cruise ship would be ready by 2030. It’s designer, understood to be industrial designers, Eker Design, have developed the concept in cooperation with cruise heavyweights, Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Other Maritime Cleantech suppliers have also gotten onboard. The key to these “sale-and-solar” designs is ESS, with batteries this time charged by photovoltaic cells imbedded in 5,000 square meters of sails. All passengers are envisioned having their own balconies surfaced with solar-filmed glass. Clean sailing While we’ve seen and walked around the containerized ESS from three different suppliers and power-system integrators, the sail, solar and battery cruise concept envisages a novel exchange of power and service containers for each onboard process: “packs” for energy (batteries); kitchen waste; potable water; passenger waste; recycling and luggage. All would be emptied or exchanged shoreside and replaced with fresh packs — energy or service. The energy packs are key, as battery, hydrogen and ammonia fuel cells are envisaged. It is hoped the energy “cycle” of containerized ESS, solar and sail power provide 14 days of “clean sailing” through the fjords.

In the six-and-a-half years before the zero-emissions deadline, cruise vessels will only be allowed into the inner fjords if they’re running closed scrubber technology, or tech that doesn’t dip or release into sea water or surrounding air to do the job. Norway-based exhaust scrubber makers offer open and closed scrubber systems in the run-up to the Heritage Fjords deadline. Last year saw a ramp-up of systems production that failed to meet demand, as it surges ahead of the IMO’s Jan. 1st, 2020 deadlines for getting the SOx in emissions down to 0.5 parts per million.

“As far as we know, the regulation concerns the so-called Heritage Fjords, where a zero-emission policy will be implemented from 2026,” says a maker of scrubbers for ocean-going tankers, cargo vessels and cruise ships. “This means no fossil fuels can be used by any vessel inside these fjords … (cruise vessels) all use fossil fuels (so) they simply cannot enter these fjords from 2026”. Another scrubber maker says their systems are too large for cruise, “because you’d have to remove a casino or a pool”.

So, the Fjords clean-up may be strictly about marine batteries. Retrofits of these, at least for AHTSs, can seem as simple or as configurable as a Kongsberg Maritime battery “container” connected to a hub. The no-emissions rule (which includes “grey water” and waste), will turn an ugly problem into a unique opportunity for the local shipping cluster and allied international partners to take a market lead. The NMA affirms this: “We take a very strong role in creating international regulations,” says NMA spokesperson, Caroline Stensland. The 350-strong agency headquartered in Haugesund works with industry on new tech much like DNV GL does, and their own engineers and scientists work alongside maritime cluster participants. “That sets us apart from other national maritime authorities,” she says. “We see ourselves as partners for technology development.”

Key to that development are the system integrators, “clustered” and incubated by Maritime CleanTech and government. As we went to press, the NCE was showing the Cluster’s zero-emissions concepts to conferencegoers at SeaTrade Cruise Global in Miami. “The world’s first zero-emissions zone (Norway’s heritage fjords)” and the heavyweights of cruise will have their first zero-emissions, solar-sail-ESS between by 2030. Until then, it’s cruise ships in-tow. Corvus’s Cruise Offering Corvus Energy’s batteries are understood to be at the heart of the solar-sail cruise concept and a temporary plan to use retired anchor handlers packed with batteries to tow passenger vessels through Norway’s fjords.

Halvard Hauso, executive VP at Corvus Energy, confirms the ESS outfit is ramping up for the cruise segment. “We’re launching a battery system for each vessel type,” he says, confirming that batteries let owners shrink engine sizes. Hauso’s comment is timely — a cruise vessel recently thundered through the nearby fjords on main engines packing 120 megawatts of power.

Already, Corvus Energy’s ESS is slated to be aboard vessels of the cruise ship operator, Havila Kystruten. The liners will operate from Bergen in Western Norway to Kirkenes in the near arctic. That success, the largest marine battery order ever, is being followed up with a new series of battery packs expected to launch at Norway’s Nor-Shipping expo in June 2019.

With 200 MWh of installed power, Corvus may already have half the market for marine battery power. Now, moving operations from Canada to Scandinavia and securing a network of Norwegian owners has proved prescient. Competitors have fallen away. It was the logistical costs and bans on air-lifting tenable chemicals that had padded the logic of setting up in Norway.  

New Corvus product launches for specific shipping segments are being rolled out named for ocean mammals that denote scale: cruise is understood to be called the Blue Whale package. Orca is understood to be for adventure cruise or yachts. “We decided on the (blue) whale format of ESS because it was too big for yachts and too small for rigs,” Hauso says, admitting that quietly, Corvus has had 190 energy storage projects on the go, including 13 in the cruise and yacht segment.

The newest Corvus ESS are solid-state rather than gelatinous, and that has reduced the size of the company’s new Orca system for ferries by half. The Blue Whale system, which will have power and coms controls moved to the cabinet, are being offered to the cruise market with unique chemistry made by different suppliers.

Blue Whale marine ESS will roll out to the cruise market in earnest by 2021, or just in time for Norway’s 2026 Fjords rules and a year after MARPOL emissions rules kick in. As Hauso says, power configurations for cruise will mean ESS becomes “as a fuel, with more batteries.”

Related News

Baltimore can use grant to boost cargo shipments.

The U.S. Transportation Department on Friday said it reached an agreement with Baltimore County to revise an $8.26 million…

On Board the eWolf: The First Electric Tugboat in the US

Crowley Maritime Corporation has owned and operated a lot of vessels since its founding in 1892. But the latest vessel to…

Seatrium Scoops $259M Worth of Repairs and Upgrades Work

Singapore-based Seatrium has secured a series of major contracts for vessel repairs, upgrades and conversions, set for completion…

Bridge Salvage Operations Continue Despite Inclement Weather

The Unified Command continues to coordinate response operations to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse despite the challenging…

Sponsored Content

Streamline sire 2.0 transition with abs wavesight™ nautical systems.

As the maritime industry transitions to the updated SIRE 2.0 inspection regime from the familiar SIRE VIQ7 framework, operators are bracing themselves for a period of adjustment.

Earn amazing income and flexibility with MSC.

For any job seeker, what they will earn is one of the most important factors. Some organizations list hourly rates, while others list day rates- there are countless ways to see what you will earn in

EverClean - the next evolution in antifouling

Greensea IQ’s answer to biofouling delivers better performance through always clean hulls

Unlicensed Engineer

Third officer, second officer, chief steward, second assistant engineer - mixed work schedule.

By the Numbers: Port St. Louis

A New Era of Flexibility for Water Injection Dredging

Subscribe for Maritime Reporter E-News

Maritime Reporter E-News is the maritime industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email five times per week

Bangor Daily News

Maine news, sports, politics, election results, and obituaries

The era of large cruise ship visits to Bar Harbor might soon end

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Unless another court ruling overturns Bar Harbor’s new cruise ship limits, 2025 is expected to be the last year that large passenger ships drop anchor in Frenchman Bay.

But it could be sooner than that — or may have already passed — if a judge decides that the town must enforce the new limits this year.

“Large” can be a relative term when the smallest cruise ships that visit Bar Harbor are more than 200 feet long and can accommodate 100 paid passengers. Most of the ships that visit Bar Harbor, Maine’s busiest cruise ship port, are closer to 1,000 feet long and carry between 1,800 and 4,000 passengers per voyage.

It is these larger ships that effectively will be banned from visiting the tourist destination when the town’s new daily limit of 1,000 passengers per day  starts being enforced. Of Bar Harbor’s current 104 cruise ship visits scheduled for this year, 70 would be prohibited if the daily limit was to go into effect before May 2, when the first large ship of the year, carrying nearly 2,400 passengers, is expected to arrive.

Of the ships that will still be allowed, most carry approximately 100 to 200 passengers and rarely do two of them appear in Bar Harbor on the same day. As a result, the town most likely will get only a couple hundred passengers ashore on cruise ship days — below the daily 1,000-passenger limit and far below the 2,000 to 5,000 passengers that have sometimes come ashore when multiple ships are in town at the same time.

But when the new limit will be fully enforced is a heated subject of debate  in Bar Harbor, where the council says it will honor reservations made by large ships before voters approved the new limits on Nov. 8, 2022. Charles Sidman , a local resident who spearheaded the referendum vote, is taking the town to court to try to legally compel it to enforce the cap now.

In addition, a coalition of local businesses is challenging the new daily limit in federal court, arguing that it runs counter to federal maritime law and is unfairly onerous. A federal judge upheld the new daily limit  in February, but the business group has said it intends to appeal the decision.

Regardless of which entity prevails in court, the number of annual cruise ship visits to Bar Harbor, which gets millions of visitors each year who arrive each year by car or bus, already is declining and likely will never regain the volume of recent years.

Outside the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 — when the global cruise ship industry ground to a halt and no ships came to Bar Harbor  — the town recently has averaged roughly 150 visits each year, all between late April and early November, and received an annual total between 200,000 and 250,000 passengers. This year, even if large ships are allowed, the town will get fewer than 200,000 passengers for the first time — apart from 2020 and 2021 — since 2016.

After cruise ships first started showing up sporadically off Bar Harbor in the 1980s, their numbers jumped above 50 per year in 2001 and then above 100 per year in 2008. The town’s first year with more than 100,000 cruise ship passengers was in 2004, when it welcomed 87 ships into Frenchman Bay.

Along the way, the town has worked with local cruise industry officials to find ways to manage the flow of passengers to and from the downtown waterfront. It moved anchorage points in the bay behind the Porcupine Islands to make the ships less visually imposing from downtown, and tried making adjustments to how tour buses come and go from West Street to relieve traffic congestion, even as the number of visits consistently increased over time.

But as complaints continued to come in, the town decided in 2021 — when annual visits to Acadia National Park soared to more than 4 million  — to conduct a survey to ask local people what they thought about local cruise ship traffic. More than half  of the survey’s respondents said the volume of cruise ship visits was hurting the town.

With the writing on the wall, both town officials and local cruise industry officials began discussing how to reduce the number  of large ships that visit each year.

Together, they came up with a plan to impose a daily passenger cap of 3,800 passengers for May, June, September and October, and a daily cap of 3,500 for July and August. They also agreed on monthly caps of 30,000 passengers in May and June, 40,000 in July and August, and 65,000 in September and October.

But Sidman’s 2022 citizens’ petition effort, which led to the November referendum that year, derailed that plan.

For now, with Bar Harbor officials saying they plan to honor large cruise ship reservations made prior to the November 8, 2022 vote, the number of visits scheduled for 2025 stands at 18, all of which are large ships that together would bring nearly 57,000 ship passengers to town between late August and early October. The Regal Princess, which carries 3,560 passengers, would be the final large ship to visit Bar Harbor, on Oct. 28, 2025.

All large ship reservation requests that have come in since residents approved the daily 1,000-passenger cap have been denied, according to town officials.

More articles from the BDN

Bill trotter.

A news reporter in coastal Maine for more than 20 years, Bill Trotter writes about how the Atlantic Ocean and the state's iconic coastline help to shape the lives of coastal Maine residents and visitors.... More by Bill Trotter

8 passengers got stuck in port after a late return. What to do if you miss your cruise.

A group of Norwegian Cruise Line passengers was left behind after returning late to their ship in Africa.

Eight guests missed the last tender back to Norwegian Dawn while the ship was visiting the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for the line. They were on a tour not organized through Norwegian.

Two guests, Jay and Jill Campbell, told South Carolina’s ABC 15 News their tour went longer than expected. When they returned, the ship was still in port, and the captain declined to let them board despite numerous attempts to reach Norwegian. At one point, they said, the island nation’s coast guard took them to the ship on a boat but told them to return to shore.

“The captain could have made an easy decision to turn one of the tender boats back, pick us up, safely load us, and then go on the way," Jay Campbell told the outlet.

'I just felt so helpless': Carnival Sunrise cruise ship faces flooding

“When the guests did not return to the vessel at the all-aboard time, their passports were delivered to the local port agents to retrieve when they returned to the port, as per the regular protocol,” the Norwegian spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Our team has been working closely with the local authorities to understand the requirements and necessary visas needed for the guests to rejoin the ship at the next available port of call.”

Since then, the passengers have been scrambling to catch up to the cruise. Here’s what to do if you get stranded during a stop and how to minimize the chance of being left behind:

What happens if I don’t get back to my cruise in time?

Cruise lines warn guests they may get stuck if they don’t return to the ship by the stated all-aboard time.

“While this is a very unfortunate situation, guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time, which is communicated broadly over the ship’s intercom, in the daily print communication and posted just before exiting the vessel,” the Norwegian spokesperson said.

Cruise ships are on tight schedules while in port, said Joanna Kuther, a New York City-based travel agent and owner of Port Side Travel Consultants. “So if they have to leave at a certain time, they have to leave at that time,” she said. “It could be that there's another (ship) coming in. It could be (that) people aren't going to be there to be working on the pier.”

The Campbells told ABC 15 News that they traveled through six countries for 15 hours to reach Gambia, where the ship was due to stop on Monday. However, the vessel was unable to dock due to low tides. Norwegian said it made the change “due to adverse weather conditions, as well as tidal restrictions that require specific timing for safe passage.”

“While we share in our guests’ disappointment, this modification was made with great consideration for their safety and that of our crew, which is our top priority,” the spokesperson added.

The cruise line authorized them to rejoin the ship in Dakar, Senegal, on Tuesday.

Kuther recommended guests who miss their all-aboard time contact the cruise line to let them know and reach out to their travel agent – if they have one – who can help handle the logistics. She said the nearest U.S. embassy may also be able to assist them.

Are travelers responsible for added expenses?

Travelers who do not board their ship in time are generally responsible for getting themselves to the next port of call, according to Kuther.

Travel insurance won't be much good in that scenario, either.

"Typically travel delay coverage/missed connection coverage is due to a delay of a common carrier such as an airline delay or cancellation for a covered reason which causes you to miss your cruise/tour departure," Meghan Walch, director of product at InsureMyTrip, said in an email. "An excursion supplier not getting you back to your cruise in time is typically not covered."

The Norwegian spokesperson said the cruise line is reimbursing the eight guests for their travel expenses from Banjul, Gambia, to Dakar, but Kuther stressed that kind of compensation is “definitely the exception to the rule.”

How to avoid getting stranded

When choosing a shore excursion, Kuther said it’s safest to book through the cruise line or with another vendor that guarantees to get passengers back to the ship on time or to the next port. Travel agents can help guests find those options, or they can ask operators about their policies directly when booking.

Just in case something does go wrong, travelers should bring a credit card or debit card so they have a way to cover any costs they might incur. Kuther typically recommends bringing an ID “because you don’t want to be carrying around your passport,” but if travelers are going on a private excursion without that kind of guarantee, it’s a different story.

“You probably should have your passport with you because you're going to need it to get on a flight to get to the next port, especially if it's in a different country,” she said.

At the very least, it’s a good idea for travelers to have a photo of their passport on hand, and share a copy with someone back home who is easily reachable.

Story continues below.

Cruise insurance: Should you buy it through a cruise line? Maybe not, experts say

She also recommended they make sure their phone or watch is set to ship time rather than the time of the destination, which may be different (the all-aboard time will be on ship time). “So many people get confused with that,” Kuther said.

To be safe, she suggested guests get back to the ship an hour early if they’re exploring on their own or on a self-booked excursion in case they hit traffic or face other issues.

“It's one of those things like, it's not a problem until it's a problem,” Kuther said. She urged travelers not to expect the ship to wait. “If they can, I'm sure they will, but I would never tell someone, ‘Don’t worry about it.’”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected]

latest in US News

Clouds expected at these solar eclipse hot spots

Wife of Texas judge accused of fatally shooting nephew over fight...

B&H dubbed 'hottest club in town' as New Yorkers scramble to...

Texas grandfather, 105, to watch his 13th total solar eclipse: 'I...

South American heist rings target luxurious US homes, wear...

Man stabbed in back in bloody brawl on Manhattan subway train

60 historic Torah scrolls that survived Nazis celebrated at NYC...

Columbia suspends students for 'Resistance 101' where guest...

Australian couple stranded by norwegian cruise lines describe ‘worst experience of our lives’.

• View Author Archive
• Email the Author
• Follow on Twitter
• Get author RSS feed

Contact The Author

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

An Australian couple stranded on an African island after being abandoned by a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship has spoken out about their ordeal — saying it was “the worst experience of our lives.”

Doug and Violeta Sanders said they had to fend for themselves after a private tour they took during a stop last week on the island of São Tomé ran past the time they needed to return to the Norwegian Dawn and they weren’t allowed to board, Sky News Australia reported .

“It’s been the worst experience of our lives to be abandoned like that in a strange country, can’t speak the language — it’s Portuguese and African,” Violeta told Seven’s “Sunrise,” an Australian morning TV show.

“We have no money, our credit cards aren’t accepted,” she added.

They and the other six passengers were not allowed to get back on the vessel, which sailed off without them.

The stranded passengers were helped by the US Embassy in Angola and boarded a flight to Gambia in hopes of joining the ship in Banjul, but it was unable to dock due to low tide and moved on to Senegal.

A Norwegian Cruise Line rep said the passengers were on a private tour, not one organized by the company.

Keep up with The Post's coverage of the Norwegian Cruise debacle

• Eight Norwegian Cruise passengers, including a pregnant woman and an elderly man with a heart condition, were stranded on an African island without money and vital medications after the vessel left port without them.
• A spokesperson for the cruise line claimed the passengers were left on the island “on their own or with a private tour” and missed the “all-aboard time” by over an hour, according to the company.
• Americans Jill Campbell and her husband, Jay Campbell, said they are unsure whether they even want to resume the 20-day voyage after Norwegian Cruise Lines forgot about its “basic duty of care.”
• The eight passengers raced through seven different countries over a span of 48 hours to make it to Senegal, where the ship docked Tuesday morning,
• Doug and Violeta Sanders, a stranded Australian couple, have spoken out about their ordeal , saying it was “the worst experience of our lives.”
• Julie Lenkoff, 80,  suffered a stroke during an excursion on the cruise — and was left “alone” and “helpless” to find her way back to the US, according to her family.
• COLUMN: Cruise ship was right to ditch the late passengers in Africa

Check out The Post’s tips on what to do if you’re left stranded like the Norwegian Cruise passengers

“We work closely with local tour operators to ensure excursions are planned to our schedule to guarantee timely arrivals back to the port. The excursion this group was on was not organized through us but on their own. As such, we are not in communication with their private tour operator,” the spokesperson said.

Attorney James Diamond from TWC Lawyers said it is a “hard and fast rule” that a ship can leave once a final call has been made.

“They pay a lot of money for docking fees, and renting out the space,” he told the program. “They have times that they have to leave, those times are published and unfortunately, I know it’s morally incorrect, but they do have the right to leave.”

Among those stranded were Americans Jill and Jay Campbell.

The passengers raced through seven different countries in 48 hours to make it to Dakar, Senegal, where they finally got back on the ship, according to Sky News.

Share this article:

Advertisement

Monday’s total solar eclipse is making one former teacher’s 46-year-old promise a reality

More than 160 people fear North Carolina State University building caused their cancer

Violent street takeover caught on camera

Southwest flight makes emergency landing after engine cover peels off

The Israel-Hamas war reaches six-month mark

Spectators prepare to make the most of solar eclipse with food, tattoos, even weddings

Environmentalists warn of threat to famed Okefenokee Swamp

Hospital staff save woman and her baby, then organize her surprise wedding

Hundreds of passengers bypassed a part of airport security screenings

Towns along solar eclipse path brace for millions of tourists

Aftershocks felt on East Coast as concerns mount over NYC’s structural readiness for earthquakes

Miami-area shooting leaves 9 shot with 2 dead

Can artificial intelligence help people with their mental health?

Family members of Gaza hostages speak out almost 6 months after terrorist attack

Anticipation of total eclipse creates boom towns in its path

Israel's military dismisses 2 senior officers over killing of Gaza aid workers

Magnitude 4.8 earthquake rattles East Coast

Violent weather causes severe airline turbulence

Lawyer says NFL star Rashee Rice was driving car involved in Dallas crash

Desperate search for trapped earthquake victims in Taiwan

Nightly news, american cruise passengers faced travel nightmare after being left behind.

The passengers were late for the scheduled departure, so the Norwegian Cruise Lines ship set sail without them from an island in Africa, leading to a days-long journey to catch up with the ship. NBC News' Erin McLaughlin reports. April 2, 2024

Best of NBC News

Nightly News Netcast

Nightly news full broadcast (april 7th).

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes

8 Norwegian Cruise Passengers Stranded on African Island Catch Up to Ship After Traversing 7 Countries

The group of stranded American and Australian passengers included four elderly people, one with a heart condition and a pregnant woman

Natalia Senanayake is an Editorial Assistant, Lifestyle at PEOPLE. She covers all things travel and home, from celebrities' luxury mansions to breaking travel news.

Sipa via AP

• Nine Norwegian Cruise Line passengers were reportedly left behind on the African island of São Tomé and Príncipe on March 27 
• The group was on a guided excursion that got delayed, leading them to miss the ship’s "all aboard" call 
• A statement from Norwegian Cruise Lines noted that all guests are responsible for returning to the docked ship at the designated call time 
• Eight people were able to catch up to the ship on Tuesday morning after reportedly traversing seven countries.
• One, who had fallen ill before the incident, has safely returned to the U.S.

Multiple passengers were stranded on an island in Africa after their Norwegian Cruise Line ship reportedly left them behind. After several days of uncertainty and a trek across seven countries, they're now back on board the vessel.

On Wednesday, March 27, South Carolina couple Jill and Jay Campbell were enjoying a guided tour on the island of São Tomé and Príncipe located off the continent's western coast, ABC15 News reported at the time. The pair was with six other American and Australian passengers when they realized they wouldn’t make it back to the ship on time due to their tour taking longer than planned.

Though the tour operator contacted the cruise ship’s captain to inform them of the delay, the captain refused to let them back on the still-anchored ship when they arrived at the port because it was after the "all aboard" call, per the outlet. 

The São Tomé and Príncipe Coast Guard allegedly then took them by boat directly to the ship where the captain again did not permit them to board. 

The group later encountered another stranded passenger, an 80-year-old woman, who was hospitalized on the island after a cruise line tour, the outlet stated. The woman reportedly experienced memory and vision loss due to a medical emergency. 

In addition to the ill passenger, the group also includes one person who is pregnant, one with a heart condition and four elderly travelers. 

The majority of the group left their medications and credit cards on the ship except for the Campbells, who have reportedly paid over $5,000 for food, accommodations, and other necessities for their fellow passengers. 

On Sunday, the U.S. Embassy in Angola allegedly arranged for the group to fly to the West African country of Gambia, the ship's next planned port of call, so they could reboard. 

Google Maps

Unfortunately, the group discovered the cruise ship wasn’t docked at the port in Gambia as planned because it had to spend another day at sea due to low tides. ABC News 4 reports the passengers spent fifteen hours traveling through six countries to make it to the port on Sunday. 

“We have to cross the ferry to get into Senegal,” Campbell told the outlet on Monday, marking their seventh country. “We just learned from the gentleman that the ferry hadn’t been working, but he said no problem, if the ferry is not working we will get another little boat and then pick up a car on the other side. And then once we get on the other side of Senegal, it’s another four-hour drive.” 

In a statement to PEOPLE, Norwegian Cruise Line said, “On the afternoon of March 27, 2024, while the ship was in São Tomé and Príncipe, an African island nation, eight guests who were on the island on a private tour not organized through us missed the last tender back to the vessel, therefore not meeting the all aboard time of 3 p.m. local time."

The statement continued, “While this is a very unfortunate situation, guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time, which is communicated broadly over the ship’s intercom, in the daily print communication and posted just before exiting the vessel.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

The cruise line added that guests are “responsible for any necessary travel arrangements” to meet the ship at the next port and that they had each of their passports “delivered to the local port agents to retrieve” when they missed their all aboard call.

The group was finally able to catch up to the vessel. They reached Dakar, Senegal, its next port, on Monday night, PEOPLE confirmed.

After what they'd been through, Jill told NBC News in a story published on Tuesday, "We are considering whether or not we are going to board the ship. We believe there was a basic duty of care that they had forgotten about, so it does concern us." While she allowed that Norwegian technically followed protocol, she says, "I believe that they really forgot that they are people working in the hospitality industry and really the safety and well-being of the customers should be their first priority."

On Tuesday morning, the eight passengers, less the person who had fallen ill and later safely returned home to the United States, chose to board the cruise. Norwegian confirmed the news to PEOPLE in a statement.

"Despite the series of unfortunate events outside of our control, we will be reimbursing these eight guests for their travel costs from Banjur, Gambia to Dakar, Senegal. We remain in communication with the guests and are providing additional information as it becomes available,"

The Norwegian Dawn departed from Cape Town, South Africa, on March 20 for a 21-day trip that will end in Barcelona on April 10.

Related Articles

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Taiwan emerges remarkably unscathed after massive earthquake

A police officer stands guard near a partially collapsed building a day after a powerful earthquake struck in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, Thursday, April 4, 2024. ChiangYing-ying/AP hide caption

A police officer stands guard near a partially collapsed building a day after a powerful earthquake struck in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, Thursday, April 4, 2024.

HUALIEN CITY, Taiwan – A massive, 7.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Taiwan Wednesday morning sent bridges swaying and buried mountainous roads in landslides.

"The road below my feet suddenly turned into what felt like waves on water," said Vincent Tseng, a Hualien resident.

Yet, the day after what was the worst quake to hit the Asian island in a quarter century , most residents cannot stop talking about how much worse it could have been.

Why Tuesday's earthquake in Taiwan was so much less destructive than the one in 1999

As of Thursday local time, authorities say nine people were killed during the quake and just over 1,000 people were injured. Train service through the epicenter was restored within 24 hours.

"It is quite remarkable that given an earthquake of this magnitude, we have seen so few reported causalities," says Daniel Aldrich , a political science professor at Northeastern University who studies earthquake resilience around the world. " India and Haiti faced less powerful earthquakes but had far more casualties and Taiwan has managed to have so few."

The last time Taiwan experienced an earthquake at this scale was in 1999 , when more than 2,000 people died in a 7.3 magnitude quake that hit central Taiwan and collapsed more than 100,000 buildings. Post-quake audits found shoddily enforced building codes and poor quality materials .

"At that moment, Taiwan reorganized its disaster response and began a number of attempts at bottom-up and top-down responses to shocks," Aldrich says. "What we're seeing in 2024 is a direct outcome of the previous response and governmental criticism."

Over the next 25 years, Taiwan embarked on a campaign to retrofit and reinforce existing bridges and buildings to withstand more intensive seismic waves, while mandating strict adherence to earthquake-resistant building codes. Much of the island's housing stock was built before 1999 .

Taiwan earthquake briefly halts chip factories that power the global economy

"We have upgraded our infrastructure a lot since then, including thickening walls and adding pillars," Zheng Rushi, a civil engineer with the Hualian municipal government, told NPR on Thursday.

Taiwan also instituted an earthquake alert system, though the system malfunctioned on Wednesday.

Each earthquake Taiwan experienced has offered a learning experience. Following a deadly 2016 earthquake, engineers discovered that a collapsed high-rise building had used faulty designs that favored big, open lobbies. Such designs left its bases weak, which were in part to blame for the higher number of fatalities and collapses.

Among the updated codes are more robust steel rebar designs embedded in reinforced concrete, strengthening building foundations, and staging regular earthquake drills among the general public.

Rescue workers are shown looking for possible victims within the remains of an apartment that collapsed in the magnitude 6.4 earthquake, in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan on Feb. 10, 2016. ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Rescue workers are shown looking for possible victims within the remains of an apartment that collapsed in the magnitude 6.4 earthquake, in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan on Feb. 10, 2016.

"The most important the task that we have done is the retrofit for the whole schools," says Kuo-Fong Ma , a research fellow and seismologist at the Academia Sinica in Taipei.

The measures are crucial, given Taiwan's familiarity with earthquakes. Every year, the island experiences more than 2,000 small quakes a year, though only a fraction are sizable enough to be noticeable to humans. At least three dozen active geological fault lines run underneath Taiwan.

The island's east coast is especially vulnerable to earthquakes, because it sits on some of the biggest fault lines . A magnitude 7.2 earthquake in September 2022 south of Wednesday's quake, near the eastern city of Taitung, killed one person.

"Taiwan has invested a lot of time and resources to make infrastructure more resilient to earthquakes," says Trevor Carey , a civil engineering professor at the University of British Columbia who traveled to Taiwan after the 2022 quakes to assess and learn from the damage.

"The team saw a lot of things that confirmed newer or updated infrastructure or retrofits did better during an earthquake, and older non-retrofitted [buildings] did not do as well."

In Hualien, a low-lying city on Taiwan's east coast close to the epicenter of Wednesday's earthquake, residents had largely returned to life as normal, and fewer than 100 buildings were damaged or destroyed during the earthquake, city authorities said.

A damaged, multi-story building in the center of the city listed to its side while city workers piled a huge mound of dirt in front to prop the building up before they demolish it later this week. Rescuers had pulled 24 people out of the building on Wednesday. The buildings around it remained intact.