Inside the World's First Climate-neutral Cruise-Powered by Garbage

"Sailing the Norwegian fjords aboard Havila Polaris ship in November, I gathered with fellow passengers in the Havblikk Bar to watch the vessel bunker. It's typically a mundane process-effectively, a stop to refuel-but for this voyage, it was the reason I was on board. A truck at the terminal pumped about 300 cubic meters of liquefied biogas (LBG), not fossil fuel, made from processed municipal waste (so, garbage) into the ship."

"Norway built the world's largest sovereign wealth fund by selling oil; Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, a $2 trillion nest egg, was built almost entirely on North Sea oil and gas revenues. Now it's spending that money to prove you don't need oil at all. As of Jan. 1, 2026, Norwegian regulations require zero emissions for passenger ships under 10,000 gross tons operating in the country's five UNESCO World Heritage fjords, with larger vessels facing the same mandate in 2032."

Passengers observed Havila Polaris bunker with about 300 cubic meters of liquefied biogas (LBG) pumped from a truck at the terminal. The biogas came from processed municipal waste, including fish guts, food scraps, and agricultural waste from coastal communities. The ship uses dual-fuel Rolls-Royce engines capable of switching between LNG and LBG, producing minimal operational differences compared with fossil fuels. Norway's sovereign wealth fund is financing transitions away from oil. Regulations require zero emissions for passenger ships under 10,000 gross tons in five UNESCO fjords starting Jan. 1, 2026, with larger vessels mandated by 2032. Operators describe the shift as evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

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