Hurtigruten has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Norway’s Kleven Verft for the construction of the 530-pax vessel.
She is due to join the fleet in the second quarter of 2021.
The new ship’s design, construction, engineering and technology will be based on Hurtigruten’s two ships currently under construction, ‘Roald Amundsen’ and ‘Fridtjof Nansen’.
She will also feature a substantially larger battery packs than her sisterships, the company said.
The newbuilding contract is still subject to certain conditions, which are expected to be agreed in the first quarter of 2019.
Daniel Skjeldam, Hurtigruten CEO, said: “We are thrilled to introduce yet another revolutionary hybrid powered expedition ship. This groundbreaking vessel will take our guests to some of the most spectacular areas of our planet, in a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly way than ever seen before.
“These are greener, more advanced cruise ships than the world has ever seen – and ships that will raise standards for the whole industry to follow, as we enter a new era of expedition cruising driven by sustainability,” he said.
Hurtigruten is due to take delivery of the world’s first hybrid battery powered cruise ship, ‘Roald Amundsen’, in May’ 2019. She will be followed by ‘Fridtjof Nansen’.