Founder’s namesake to become one of the most environmentally friendly cruise ships
By
Elly Yates-Roberts |
Hurtigruten’s custom-built polar vessel Richard With has docked at Norway’s Fosen Yard for a month-long makeover of all cabins, suites and guest areas to make her more modern and environmentally friendly.
The vessel, which is named after Hurtigruten’s founder, will be fitted with several new features during the upgrade, which comes at the end of the line’s 125th anniversary year. All accommodation will be fully updated and several of the staterooms on Deck 7 will be merged to create 14 larger suites, some of which will have expansive bay windows. The aft-facing restaurant, Torget, will be renovated and fitted with large deck-to-ceiling windows. Hurtigruten will also enlarge the gym, upgrade the sauna, add two aft-facing outdoor hot tubs and build two new lecture halls next to the open Kompass information and shopping area.
The ship will also undergo several technical improvements, with the line installing shore power facilities and a new air conditioning system.
“We are thrilled to give the ship named after our founder a standard that Richard With himself would be proud of,” said Daniel Skjeldam, CEO of Hurtigruten. “What we are doing will add a new dimension to the expression ‘total makeover’.”
Richard With will also be retrofitted with large battery packs and green LNG engines as part of Hurtigruten’s commitment to environmentally sustainable operations. Over the next two years, five other ships’ diesel propulsion systems will also be replaced.
“Hurtigruten is strongly committed to being the frontrunner in green change,” said Skjeldam. “As we introduce the ships on the Norwegian coast, they set new standards for the industry to follow.”