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1 INTRODUCTION
All maritime sectors are facing a significant transition
due to the need for emission reductions and this
applies as well to the numerous High Speed Marine
Vessels (HSMV) which have key functions for
passenger/crew/cargo transport, cargo transport, and
civil and military preparedness. The Norwegian
coastline is approximately 20.000 km long. The need for
public transport along the coast and between locations
on opposite sides of deep fjords is high, especially in
remote areas were land borne transportation is
challenging (quality of roads, risk of closure due to
weather conditions, rockfalls, slides and long distance).
The request for faster passenger transport in rural areas
in the early 1960-ties was the baseline for the
introduction of HSMV in Norway.
The Norwegian authorities have several objectives
for future maritime activities. One is to achieve a 50%
reduction in emission from shipping by 2050 [1].
Another ambitious goal is a 51% increase in exports
from the maritime industries by 2030 [2]. Other
governmental ambitions are outlined in the new
transport and defence plans [3],[4]. Energi21 [5] points
to decarbonization of transport and industry, secure,
competitive and environmentally friendly energy
supply, and the development of green industries and
new marine energy technologies as the key R&D
challenges for the years ahead. Until now HSMV has
been identified as a vessel with a high environmental
footprint [6]. To achieve societal goals for emission
reductions, technology development and job creation,
there is a need for a greater research effort from all
parts of the Norwegian maritime cluster involved in
design, construction, equipment
development/production and operation of HSMVs.
Such a coordinated effort took place in the 1990-ties in
a national research program on high-speed crafts,
funded by the Norwegian research foundation and the
Development of a New Generation of High-Speed
Marine Vessels (HSMV) for Passenger Traffic
in Norwegian Coastal Waters
T.E. Berg
1
, A. Alterskjær
1
& N.G. Skomedal
2
1
SINTEF Ocean AS, Trondheim, Norway
2
ESNA, Kristiansand, Norway
ABSTRACT: High Speed Marine Vessels (HSMV) have been used for passenger services in Norwegian coastal
waters since the early 1960-ties (hydrofoil vessels Sleipner, Vingtor and Teisten). The need for fast transfer of
passengers along the sparsely populated Norwegian coast made the Norwegian ship designers and smaller
shipyards eager to design and build smaller HSMV, both for commercial and governmental (navy) customers.
The joint governmental and industry funded High Speed Craft program (1994 – 1997) played an important part
in the growth of the Norwegian HSMV industry. In 1999 a serious accident happened with one of the HSMV
operating the Stavanger – Bergen route (grounding on a reef when the vessel was at full speed), causing the death
of 16 people. The accident had a major impact on the HSMV development and utilization. In addition to passenger
vessels, the industry has developed fast patrol boats, ambulance and Search and Rescue vessels. Some operability
aspects and challenges for the existing fleet of HSMV will be presented.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 19
Number 3
September 2025
DOI: 10.12716/1001.19.03.36
1010
HSMV cluster [7]. Since then, overviews on
knowledge needs related to design and performance of
HSMV have been presented in recent conferences [8] -
[10] and published by the International Towing Tank
Conference [11] – [12]. International regulations by the
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) [13], and
the International Work Boat Code [14], are important
guidelines for new designs. Papers written by
Norwegian and international researchers [15] – [20]
show the need for studies of HSMVs related to
challenges in design, construction and operation. There
is a distinct lack of works on zero and reduced emission
propulsion systems for HSMV.
In Norway many of the passenger HMSVs are on
contracts with regional transport authorities. These
contracts have a limited duration (5 to 10 years). The
parameters used in evaluation of the offers from
possible suppliers have changed over the years. For the
most recent contracts price, emission profile and
regularity are parameters used for ranking of the
offers. This implies that it is risky to optimize a new
vessel design for a specific route. In general, emission
requirements have resulted in increased vessel weight
for the power solution.
The first part of the paper gives a brief description
of the Norwegian history of design, building and
operation of HSMV, where the joint governmental and
industry funded High Speed Marine Vehicles R&D
programme [7] played an important part for the
growth of the Norwegian HSMV industry. In addition
to passenger vessels, the industry has developed fast
patrol boats, ambulance and Search and Rescue
vessels. Some operability aspects and challenges for the
existing fleet of HSMV will be presented.
The second part focusses on the recent work to
develop a new generation of HSMV for passenger
transport in Norwegian Coastal waters. Governmental
requirements specifying significant reduction of GHG
emissions from shipping have a significant impact on
the design and operation of future HSMV. New
designs should primarily be zero- or low-emission
vessels and easily adapted to specific operational
patterns (confined/open waters, transit distance,
passenger capacity, terminal layout). Ongoing
activities related to reduction of vessel resistance
(hydrodynamic and aerodynamic), improving
propulsion systems and use of different power sources
(batteries, new green fuels), will be presented. Specific
problems such as wake wash, hydroacoustic signature
and harsh weather operability will be highlighted.
Numerical tools and model tests used in development
and assessment of new HSMV designs will briefly be
presented and discussed.
The final part of the paper contains a summary of
the governmental sponsored “HSMV for the future”
projects [21] - [22]. Norwegian designers were late 2021
invited to sign an R&D contract for design of a zero
emission HSMV with 30% lower energy consumption
compared to the 2021 reference vessels. Four concepts
passed the first evaluation and were invited to
continue the design process to a level where the design
specifications were developed, high-level drawings
approved and building costs estimated. Focus will be
on the work done by the Norwegian design company
ESNA in their development of one of the two final
designs
2 HISTORY OF HSMV IN NORWAY
2.1 Early days – 1960 – 1985
Norway has the second longest coastline in the world,
with approximately 20.000 km. It has long and wide
fiords and a scattered population in remote areas on
islands and small communities on the mainland. Lack
of (or unsafe) roads in these areas requires seaborne
transportation.
The first HMSV started operation in commercial
passenger traffic in the late 1960-ties. It was a hydrofoil
vessel built in aluminum by Cantieri Navali Rodriquez
in Italy and named HF Vingtor. It operated on the route
Stavanger – Bergen until 1974, see figure 1. Calm
weather operational speed was 30+ knots. Two
additional vessels were delivered in 1961 for this route,
HF Sleipner and HF Teisten. Later, Norwegian ship
designers and yards became more involved in
production of different types of HSMVs. In total
approximately 40 HSMV were in operation in
Norwegian waters during this period.
2.2 The golden age of Norwegian High Speed Marine
Vehicle industry – 1985 - 2010
In the late 1980-ties the Norwegian share of
commercially operated high-speed marine vehicles
was close to 15 % of the total world fleet of such vessels
(approximately 800). At that time, Norwegian design
and construction of larger High Speed Catamarans
(HSC) and Surface Effect Ships (SES) constituted
approximately 40% of the world market. Operations in
harsh Norwegian coastal waters imposed extreme
demands on the quality and performance of the craft as
well as its crew.
As a response to new operational and technological
challenges, a joint R&D program supported by the
industry and governmental R&D authorities were
initiated by MARINTEK (now SINTEF Ocean) and
NTH (now Norwegian University of Science and
Technology – NTNU) in 1988. Royal Norwegian
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (NTNF)
launched in 1988 a four-year R&D programme “High
Speed Marine Vehicles“ [7], with a total budget of 108
MNOK. Table 1 lists the industrial concepts and
products related to the programme. The main objective
for the program was to:
− Develop knowledge and technology to improve the
competitiveness of the Norwegian HSMV industry
and operators.
To obtain the objective it was found necessary to:
− Establish the future technology base
− Focus on safety, economics and environmental
effects
The R&D areas were divided into:
− Basic technology
− Industrial concepts
During the project period, the Norwegian built
HSMV in operation went from 131 (in 22 countries) to
158 (in 28 countries). No major joint industry R&D
programme on HSMV has been initiated since the end
of the “High Speed Marine Vehicle” program in 1992.
The different industry partners have run in-house R&D
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activities including model tests in towing tanks and
cavitation tunnels.
Figure 1. The Stavanger – Bergen HSMV route (Flaggruten)
(Courtesy: Google maps, Metalsupply.no)
Table 1. Industry partners and products
Company
Kvaerner Fjellstrand
Westamarin
Ulstein, Eikefjord Marine, AA
Marine
Harding Verft
A.Ugland – United European Car
Carriers
CPS
Kvaerner Mandal
Baatutrustning
Liaaen – Ulstein Propeller
A serious accident in 1999 had a major impact on
the public’s view on the safety of high-speed sea
transportation [23]. The new catamaran MV Sleipner
was delivered to the shipowner in Bergen on 21st
August 1999. It had a passenger capacity of 380 and an
operational speed of 35 knots. It operated on a route
between the cities of Bergen and Stavanger. On 26th
November 1999 the HSMV left Stavanger for Bergen.
After a stop at Haugesund it was northbound and
entered a renown harsh weather area (Sletta), see
figure 2. The environmental conditions were
challenging, heavy rain showers, darkness, near gale
and wave height of 2 meters. Operating at a speed of
approximately 35 knots, the vessel grounded on the
reef Store Bloksen. The Joint Rescue Coordination
Centre in Stavanger declared a maritime disaster
situation calling for assistance from helicopters and
ships in the vicinity. 16 people lost their lives in the
accident while 69 people were rescued from the sea.
The vessel was later salvaged but classified as a total
loss.
Figure 2. Map of sailing route Stavanger - Bergen – red box is
the Sletta area
2.3 Norwegian HSMV industry and operators today
HSMVs have multiple uses today – from the traditional
commercial passenger routes to dedicated routes for
offshore companies and operations by governmental
bodies such as police, fire and medical services. The
traditional commercial high speed vessel routes are
operated by a small number of companies today. They
are operating as a service provider for the
transportation sections in selected counties in Norway.
These operators are competing for time-limited
contracts on specific routes. The contract usually has a
length of 5 years. The short contract period has to some
degree prevented the development of new vessel
concepts tailor made for specific routes. All commercial
HSMV routes are shown in figure 3. It is important to
understand that many of the local routes are the
lifeblood for smaller coastal communities and in many
cases the only tool for commercial passenger and cargo
transportation. The companies serving the routes with
high passenger numbers are listed in Table 2. At
present (March 2025) the number of commercial
passenger HSMVs operating in Norway is 109 [25].
Figure 3. HSMV routes in Norway (Courtesy Norwegian
Coastal Administration)
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Table 2. Industry partners and products
Company
Number of Vessels in
operation
Vessels in order
Boreal Sjø
17
3
NORLED
22
3
Fjord 1
4
1
Torghatten
9
Rødne
13
2
Recently there has been a growth in vessels for the
tourism industry. Such vessels are designed for limited
operational envelopes and thus ideally for low noise
and zero emission operation. The Brim vessels,
designed and operated by Brim Explorer are examples
of such vessels. The company has five vessels, one fully
electric and four with hybrid energy systems giving
varying operational envelopes depending on
operational speed and whether pure electric or hybrid
configuration is used. Figure 4 shows the HSMV Bre, it
has the following range data:
− Electric: 8 knots – 13 hours, 20 knots – 1,5 hours
− Hybrid: 20 knots – 20+ hours, 30 knots – 4+ hour
The Brim Explorer vessels are used both as tourist
vessels for short sightseeing routes close to multiple
locations in Norway (Oslo, Bodoe, Tromsoe,
Spitsbergen and Lofoten) as well as for zero emission
voyages in the emission free Norwegian fiords at the
west coast of Norway. When designing this type of
vessel, the main parameters are light weight for
increased electric range on battery power, low noise
and high passenger comfort. The vessels are built to
operate in up to 2,5m significant wave height, and
operate all year in varying weather conditions.
Figure 4. HSMV Bre - zero emission sightseeing vessel
(Courtesy Brim Explorer)
The family-owned shipping company Rødne
operates 13 vessels in the commercial ferry market,
sightseeing vessels (fiord cruises) and ambulance
services. The most recent vessels are advanced design,
high-speed catamarans with carbon-fibre hulls. The
fleet includes ten express passenger boats, one
ambulance boat and two traditional car and passenger
ferries. The two largest have a capacity of nearly 300
passengers each and their fastest express boat can do
about 35 knots. The emergency response vessel
Rygerskyss (top speed of 32 knots) is a single hull cabin
cruiser and their newest vessel Rygersol has a top
speed of 33 knots. It is a retrofit of a lightweight carbon
fibre catamaran vessel built in 2010 and previous
operated by another company Boreal. After the retrofit
it is still one of the most energy efficient HSMV in
Norway (fuel consumption approximately 260
litre/hour at an operational speed of 25 knots). It has
been retrofitted to obtain improved passenger comfort.
This is an excellent example of sustainable use of
"scrapped" HSMVs that does not fit the governmental
goal of emission reduction. The company also owns the
electric fast ferry Rygerelektra and a dedicated
charging station in downtown Stavanger. The vessel, a
catamaran was built in 2020, is certified for 297
passengers and has a top speed of 19,9 knots (to
optimize the operational envelope).
Pilot vessels operated on behalf of the Norwegian
Coastal Administration are single hull HSMV. One
shipowner, Buksér og Berging, got a 10-year contract
(including a possible 2-year extension) for supplying
vessels for the pilot services In Norway. Presently
they have a fleet of 24 vessels. Figure 6 shows a pilot
vessel of type LOS127 built by the yard Maritime
Partner (ALUSAFE 1620 PILOT) and has a maximum
speed of 33 knots.
Figure 5. Passenger catamaran Rygersol and emergency
response vessel Rygerskyss (Courtesy Rødne)
Figure 6. Pilot vessel used by Norwegian Coastal
Administration (Courtesy Buksér og Berging)
Single hull HSMVs are also used as maritime
medical ambulance vessels. Operations of these vessels
are very important in sparsely populated coastal areas,
especially for small islands without bridges or regular
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ferry connections to the mainland. They also play an
important role for medical assistance for remote
communities on the mainland. An example of such
vessels is shown in figure 7. The actual vessel is
operated by Loppa Legeskyssbåter and has been used
in different research projects, for instance on onboard
treatment of severe medical conditions and on
stabilizing the sick bed during transport in harsh seas.
Its operational area is in the Northern part of Norway.
HSMVs are also operated by other emergency
instances such as the police, fire brigades and the
customs. The non-governmental organisation The
Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue operates close to 30
different HSMVs having the main objectives to support
Search and Rescue operations (SAR) and to assist
smaller vessels with towing capability for vessels with
loss of propulsion or steering capability. Figure 8
shows one of their newest vessels RS 176 Leif-Erik
Simonsen, which is an aluminium single hull vessel
with maximum speed of 38 knots.
Figure 7. The medical emergency vessel Thea Jensen
operated by Loppa Legeskyssbåter (Courtesy: Maritime
Partner AS)
Figure 8. Specific HSMV operated by the non-governmental
body The Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (Courtesy: The
Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue)
Design and construction of HSMVs has been
important for many smaller Norwegian designers and
shipyards. Fjellstrand was for many decades a market
leader for the design and construction of aluminium
high-speed catamaran ferries. Their FlyingCatTM 40
was the world’s most sold aluminium high-speed
ferry. They delivered HSMVs with varying operational
envelopes from 30 – 60 M. Oma Baatbyggeri engineers
and builds energy efficient high-speed catamaran
ferries in aluminium mainly in size 20 – 40 metres.
Umoe – Mandal has experience from development and
building of both naval and commercial HSMV. Their
present commercial designs are based on proven
Surface Effect Ships (SES) and air-cushion catamaran
design. They are built in composite sandwich materials
giving low structural weight. Maritime Partner designs
and builds different types of vessels such as work and
offshore rescue boats, patrol crafts, tourist boats and
HSMV under the brand names Alusafe, Seabear and
Weedo. They have delivered more than 2200 vessels
worldwide, both commercial and naval.
2.4 SINTEF Ocean and HSMV
In collaboration with Norwegian University of Science
and Technology (NTNU), MARINTK (now SINTEF
Ocean) has been an important partner for the
Norwegian HSMV cluster from the late 1970-ties.
Resistance, propulsion and sea-keeping performance
have been studied experimentally and theoretically.
Early collaboration with the industry is presented in
Table 1. Since then, SINTEF Ocean has performed
numerous commercial HSMV project for Norwegian
and international HSVM designers and shipyards.
Based on interviews with stakeholders in the
Norwegian HSMV cluster, there is a consensus that
there is an urgent need for a national cluster-wide
effort to regain the leading international position of the
Norwegian HSMV industry, both for the civilian and
defence markets. The national goal to develop low and
finally zero emission HSMV is challenging and needs
collaboration across the HSMV cluster. SINTEF Ocean
is working to define an R&D initiative looking at some
of the challenges related to the development of zero
emission HSMVs. Topics to be studied are:
− Energy Efficient Hull Designs
− Structural Design and Materials
− Sustainable Propulsion
− Operability, Safety and Comfort
− Digitization, Integration and Autonomy
− Enivronmental and Economic Sustainability
The importance of such an R&D project has been
documented by some recent problems related to the
discrepancy between contract speed for vessels
chartered by county administrations and speed
obtained for new vessels applying batteries for power
production. The added weight of battery systems is one
of the causes of the mismatch between contract and
actual operational speed.
3 A NEW GENERATION OF ZERO/LOW
EMISSION HSMV FOR PASSENGER
TRANSPORT
As part of the governmental policy on reduction of
GHG emissions from vessels operating in Norwegian
Coastal waters [1], the government required greener
vessels for passenger transportation (ferries and
HSMV).
The Fast Ferry of the Future project was initiated by
the county municipalities of Vestland, Trøndelag,
Nordland, Troms and Finnmark in Norway under a
public procurement procedure called a Competitive
Dialogue [21].The goal of the project was, using
competition between designers, to enable the market to
develop and build several fuel-efficient vessel concepts
with the ambition to eliminate all harmful emissions
and able to operate with a service speed between 30-40
knots for demanding passenger ferry routes along the
harsh Norwegian coast. The project was divided into
two different phases: Energy Efficient Design and
Hydrogen Design. The aim of Energy Efficient Design
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was to develop vessel concepts with at least 30% less
energy consumption than state of the art diesel
powered vessels used as fast ferries today. Four design
companies completed phase 1, see figure 9, all basing
the concepts on different technologies for a battery
powered 30-40 knots ferry with a passenger capacity of
180 and with a minimum range of 40 nautical miles:
− Foil assisted catamaran, where the idea was to
reduce wetted surface and wave resistance by
lifting the hulls partly out of the water
− Hydrofoil vessel to fully lift the hull out of the water
− Air lubrication, where the bottom of the hull was air
lubricated by a shallow bottom cavity
− Surface Effect Ship (SES), where a major part of the
vessel displacement is carried by an air cushion
reducing wetted surface and the wave resistance at
high speed.
All concepts were model tested for both seakeeping
and resistance. The results are not yet published,
however, both the 2. and 4. concept achieved energy
efficiency gain in the order of 50 – 60 % compared to
existing high speed catamaran designs.
The goal of the second phase on Hydrogen Design
was to develop, have safety approved and demonstrate
hydrogen-powered fast ferries a safe, realistic and
feasible solution for long-distance high-speed
passenger transport along the coastline. Two
companies completed the competition, the fuel cell
developer TECO 2030 and ESNA. The aim was to
develop an energy efficient fuel cell powered vessel
with hydrogen as fuel and obtain a safety approval,
based on the IMO IGF code for alternative designs,
with the Norwegian Maritime Authority. In addition,
the vessel design should represent a showcase as a
vision for the potential of future fast ferries. The vessel
should be an experience for passengers, where factors
important for a good passenger experience included
aesthetics, low noise, high comfort, light interiors and
good external views.
At the time of the start of the hydrogen part of the
project (mid 2022), there existed no prescriptive
regulatory framework for hydrogen-powered ships.
The vessel was therefore planned to be designed and
built in accordance with the International Code of
Safety for Ships Using Gases or Other Low-flashpoint
Fuels (IGF Code) [25] and using a design process based
on the alternative design process described in IMO
MSC.1 /Circ.1455 [26].
Figure 9. Four concepts for the Norwegian HSMV of the
future – second part. Upper part designs by LMG and SES-X,
lower Part Transportutvikling and ESNA (courtesy:
Troendelag County)
From the results of phase 2, it was deduced that the
uncertainty and economic risk in building and
operation of the concept vessels were high. Based on a
new project proposal by Troendelag County, the
Norwegian Environment Agency approved a follow-
up activity on risk reduction prior to building of a
prototype for the HSMV of the future [27].
4 THE ESNA DESIGN FOR THE HSMV OF THE
FUTURE PROJECT
ESNA took part in both studies presented in section 3
with their SES design. They included several new ideas
for drag reduction by optimization wetted surface area
with extensive testing of spray rails and hull chines,
significantly reducing air drag by carefully optimizing
both detailed and global shape of the superstructure
which is becoming extremely important at speeds
approaching 40 knots, see figure 10.
Figure 10. CFD study of ESNA’s SES concept HSMV
A preliminary design shown on figure 11 was ready
in the winter of 2023 and a detailed HAZID review was
held in April 2023 facilitated by Bureau Veritas and
with the participation of partner companies Brunvoll
Mar-El, Ballard, Hexagon Purus, Hyex Safety and
Torghatten Midt in addition to the Fast Ferry of the
Future project group with representatives from several
county municipalities as well as Bureau Veritas’ Oslo
office and the Norwegian Maritime Authority.
Figure 11. Revised design for ESNA’s SES for the HSMV of
the future project.
Based on the recommendations from HAZID,
several design changes were made before a detailed
qualitative and quantitative safety and risk analysis
was initiated, supported by advanced explosion
analyses. These analyses resulted in some adjustments
to the design, which were then submitted to the
Norwegian Maritime Authority in August 2023 with
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the aim of obtaining a preliminary design approval.
The Norwegian Maritime Authority issued a
preliminary approval of the design in November 2023
with few comments and concluded that the design
could be safely implemented with “no showstoppers”.
This means that the design and safety philosophy
behind the hydrogen-powered ESNA vessel Arctic
Tern was approved by the Norwegian Maritime
Authority. This was a very important milestone and
ESNA is ready to proceed with detailed design and
construction as soon as contractual and financial issues
are resolved. The last issues (contractual and financial)
became, however, a more serious obstacle to the
realization of the project. The project did not receive
the expected public funding and was shelved by the
municipalities in 2024.
The main characteristics of ESNA’s SES “Arctic
Tern” is summarized in Table 3,
Table 3. ESNA’s SES “Arctic Tern” characteristics
Hull materials
Welded aluminium alloys or carbon fibre
composites
LOA
38 m
BOA
15,2 m
Draft fully loaded
0,6 m on air cushion
2 m without SES
fans working
Class
BV | ✠ SKROG ✠ MACH HIGH SPEED CRAFT
- CAT A, SEA AREA 2, HYDROGEN FUELED ✠
AUT-UMS
Flag
NOR Fartsområde 4
Speed (max)
38 knots
Service speed
35 knots
Range
160 nautical miles
Passengers
275
Gangways
Side doors port and starboard, one with lift to
second deck bow gangway
Luggage
Luggage shelves, storage space for 10 bikes og 5
kajaks.
Hydrogen storage
Abt 1400 kg compressed hydrogen at 350 bar
Fuel cell capacity
2 x 14 fuel cells, each with 200 kW
Main batteries
2 x 181 kWh (nominal, for peak sharing)
Propulsors
Four electric driven waterjets
SES systems
Electric lift and bag fans
Motion damping
Active ESNA SES motion damping and
interceptors for trim and roll control
Late 2024 the counties received some new funding
and initiated early 2025 a new round of design
competition for a battery powered ferry now planned
to start mid 2025.
5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
In recent work done by SINTEF Ocean, the question on
how to remove the public view of HSMVs as the
“environmental pigs” of transport means has been
raised. Research and development in multiple
disciplines will be needed, such as hull design,
hydrodynamic and aerodynamic forces, energy
efficient propulsion systems and energy generation
systems (batteries, conventional and unconventional
fuels) to change this opinion. Other topics of interest
for more research are passenger comfort,
hydroacoustic noise and impact on the ocean
environment, wake wash impact on recreational crafts
and floating installations in the shoreline. Wake wash
has been discussed as a parameter for development of
speed limits for HSMVs in confined waters by the
Norwegian Coastal Administration. Operating costs,
including more expensive maintenance costs and
reduced weather dependent regularity, are important
factors for the counties’ transport divisions when they
evaluate offers for new contracts for passenger
transportation (water or land based).
Requirements to green operation will impact the
choice between HSMV and other modes of transport
for seaborne commercial passenger traffic. There is a
significant gap between the emission goals specified by
the politicians and what it is possible to obtain for large
passenger HSMV. Battery capacity, weight and
charging infrastructure are unsolved problems for long
distances routes in sparsely populated locations and
open sea regions where harsh weather is a common
situation. Regularity of low emission HSMV has come
up as an additional problem for several of the HSMV
routes. This is partly due to the lack of power to handle
additional resistance when operating in a seaway.
Based on discussions with members og the Norwegian
HSMV cluster, it is SINTEF Ocean understanding that
there is a need for a new R&D program to solve the
challenges related to development of low/zero
emission HSMVs for passenger transport in
Norwegian coastal regions.
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