Norwegian zero-emission cruise start-up that signed a letter of intent with Portugal’s West Sea shipyard in Viana do Castelo to build what it bills as the world’s first zero-emission cruise ship — a 130-metre, 250-passenger vessel designed by Multi Maritime with ABB electric propulsion, batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.
Northern Xplorer selected the West Sea shipyard at Viana do Castelo, north of Porto, for its first newbuild, signing a letter of intent in September 2022. The planned ship — a 130-metre, 250-passenger, 125-cabin vessel designed by Norway’s Multi Maritime — is specified with ABB’s fully electric propulsion, battery banks and hydrogen fuel cells so it can sail emission-free in the Norwegian fjords, whose World Heritage waters are closing to conventionally powered cruise ships.
West Sea was not an accidental choice: the Viana do Castelo yard has built a run of high-end small cruise ships, including the World Explorer, World Voyager and World Navigator expedition vessels delivered between 2019 and 2021. The Northern Xplorer project, originally targeting delivery around the 2025/26 season, positions the Portuguese yard at the front of zero-emission passenger shipbuilding.
The project connects Norway’s maritime green transition directly to Portuguese industrial capability: Norwegian capital and design, Portuguese steel and shipbuilding craft. If completed, the world’s first zero-emission cruise ship would carry a made-in-Viana-do-Castelo label — a flagship reference for the corridor’s blue-economy lane.
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