July 2nd in Norway marked 125 years since Hurtigruten founder Richard With brought the steamer MS Vesteraalen into service along the coast of Norway, establishing a regular sea link for locals and tourists and founding what today is the world’s largest expedition cruise company.
To celebrate the anniversary, Hurtigruten hosted a birthday party extending over 11,000 nautical miles, from Seattle in the west and Hong Kong in the east, to Svalbard in the High North, and along the Norwegian coast. The birthday was celebrated in Hurtigruten ports, destinations, ships and offices, without use of any single use plastic items.
As Hurtigruten marks 125 years of global exploration in 2018, the cruise company will take guests to more than 200 destinations in 30 countries from pole to pole – in the waters of Antarctica, South America and the Caribbean, the Northwest Passage, Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard and the spectacular Norwegian Coast.
Hurtigruten has banned all unnecessary single-use plastics across their global fleet of expedition ships – from the Arctic to Antarctica. From straws to drinking cups and plastic bags, everything will be replaced by paper, biodegradable material and other sustainable alternatives.
“The initiative taken by Hurtigruten to ban ‘Single Use Plastic’ needs to be applauded as this signifies that there are businesses which are conscious of their surroundings and would do all possible to minimize the damage to the environment,” said Nishith Saxena, Director, Cruise Professionals – the sole GSA for Hurtigruten in India.
“Very recently, we have heard that Maharashtra is the first state in India to ban single use plastic – if similar initiatives could also be taken in other cities as well then our cities would not choke on plastic and be more liveable,” he added.
With the introduction of the world’s first battery hybrid powered expedition ships – along with the conversion of up to nine existing ships to hybrid LNG-battery powered hybrid ships – Hurtigruten also sets a new standard for the future of adventure travel.
