North Sailing - Sustainable Whale Watching

North Sailing aims to provide its customers with a sustainable, respectful and climate-friendly way to enjoy the northern marine environment. Their customers increasingly show desire for sustainable, clean excursions and minimization of the ecological footprint of the holiday. North Sailing aims to meet this demand by innovative means and simultaneously preserving the competitive edge, image and brand-value of North Sailing. North Sailing is aiming to be sustainable in every action they take and their goal is to be completely carbon free by 2020. The objective is that their customers, as well as other tourists who learn about sustainable tourism options, will contribute towards increasing environmental awareness and creating a more sustainable tourism market by requesting carbon neutral tours. Nature friendly operation North Sailing actively implements their environmental policy. Respect for nature and focus on sustainability form the base in every decision. North Sailing adheres to a strict code of conduct for responsible whale watching. Noise pollution is minimized using wooden ships and slowing down in the vicinity of whales. When using sails or an electric engine, the ship is almost silent, reducing disturbance to the whales and other wildlife. North Sailing also participates in whale research to help protect the species and their natural habitats. North Sailing opposes whale killing and supports the protection of endangered species by being a partner of IFAW - International Fund for Animal Welfare. In addition to the whales, they also know the birds and other wildlife in the area and offer their guests knowledge about them. Renewable energy North Sailing has been the main actor and coordinator in an international research project developing a Regenerative Plug-In Hybrid Propulsion System for sailing boats. The project started in 2012 and reached its goal on July 12th 2015 when their sailing ship Opal was launched after its renovation. Opal is the first ship in the world on which this system has been installed. It basically enables recharging of the ship's batteries while sailing by generating electricity with the propeller. The energy can be stored in the batteries for calm days. When docked, the ship's batteries are recharged with Icelandic green energy. As no fossil fuels are used, a voyage with this ship is carbon free. The newly developed technology is transferable and scalable. The second ship is to be fitted with an electric engine in July 2016. North Sailing's aim is that all day tours - the biggest part of their operations - will be driven by electricity only. However, all ships will still have a small emergency diesel engine that can generate electricity if there is not enough wind and the ship is in such a remote area that charging the batteries is not possible. As the North Sailing fleet needs maintenance every year, a certain amount of North Sailing's budget is reserved for each boat yearly. The maintenance done on the ship Opal due to the project was within expected limits. North Sailing believes that the total cost of installing electrical systems is similar to having new motors and other equipment installed boats running on fossil fuel. The benefit of carbon-free systems is likely to make their business more attractive compared to competitors using fossil fuel. Preserving cultural heritage From the beginning, North Sailing has been dedicated to preserve the Icelandic coastal culture by salvaging and renovating old oak ships. Once common wooden fishing ships are rare today. Restoration of old vessels maintains traditional shipbuilding craftsmanship. North Sailing's sailing ships are today the only traditional gaff rigged sailing ships in Iceland and therefore play an important role in preserving knowledge of handling and maintaining a traditional sailing vessel. North Sailing also preserves cultural heritage of the small fishing village Húsavík by giving new purpose to the historical waterfront buildings. Restaurant Gamli Baukur is owned by North Sailing and is a replica of a historical building and built using driftwood collected locally. The café Hvalbakur has a unique interior made of remains of old boats. Local food Restaurant Gamli Baukur´s menu focuses on the daily catch of the local fishermen and the meat is from local farmers. Both the restaurant Gamli Baukur and the café Hvalbakur are whale friendly – meaning that North Sailing supports the “Meet Us Don't Eat Us” project, which encourages tourists to enjoy whales in their natural habitat rather than on their plate. Success Factors North Sailing has received several awards since the start of operations, including several awards for innovativeness as well as awards for environmental policy and regional development efforts. Being a pioneer and achieving the means of non-weather dependent carbon neutral ship expeditions is a one-of-a-kind result – as are the 70 000 customers that yearly board their vessels. The success stems from the beginning of the company and the culture that the founders have instilled in relation to both coastal culture and environmental issues. The company was initially founded to salvage and repair old Icelandic oak fishing vessels. This has been an important factor for the preservation of cultural heritage. The only traditionally rigged sailing ships in Iceland are owned and restored by North Sailing. The company culture to date is based on ideas and values that strive for sustainability in operations. North Sailing has received following awards: • 2016 Finalist in Innovation at the WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards • 2015 World Responsible Tourism, Silver Awards - Best Innovation for Carbon Reduction • 2015 The Environmental Award from the Icelandic Tourist Board • 2015 Company of the Year selected by Visit North Iceland • 2013-2015 Tripadvisor® Certificate of Excellence winner and the highest rating for activities in the destination • 2014 Landstólpinn - Icelandic Regional Development Institute - Award for the development of whale watching in Húsavík • 2010 Icelandic Web Awards • 2007 The Innovation Award from the Icelandic Travel Industry • 2003 Scandinavian Travel Award • 1996 Silver Otter Award from the British Guild of Travel Writers • 1996 The Environmental Award from the Icelandic Tourist Board Novelty North Sailing is a pioneer in sustainable tourism, always looking for improvement and innovation in order to satisfy the increasingly environmentally concerned customers, whilst not forgetting the whales and the other wildlife. In cooperation with several partners, they have developed a specifically designed Regenerative Plug-In Hybrid Propulsion System. One sailing ship, Opal, has been refitted with that system. It enables recharging the ship's batteries while sailing and storing the energy for calm days. The innovation minimizes the environmental footprint of the tour and offers a unique experience to the passengers by carrying them silently through the fragile habitat of whales, arctic birds and polar bears. With Opal, North Sailing can already offer carbon neutral tours. Sustainability Impacts North Sailing works on increasing sustainable tourism and environmental awareness, whilst giving their customers a chance to experience the arctic nature as silent spectators with a minimal environmental footprint. Impacts on people and other businesses North Sailing is owned and run by a local family in Húsavík. Three generations take part in daily operation and the fourth one is already lending a hand. North sailing is an important supplier of jobs in Húsavík, a village of 2300 inhabitants. As the clients of North Sailing also need other services, possibilities are also created for other local businesses, including accommodation, restaurant, and other activities such as horse riding. The technology development project created opportunities for technicians, electricians and engineers. People directly affected are the employees of North Sailing, the inhabitants of the region and more than 70 000 passengers yearly. Challenges and potential for further development North Sailing has been able to finish the Regenerative Plug-In Hybrid Propulsion System project in a small fishing village, which shows that a similar project can be done elsewhere, too. Of course, the project also presented challenges, such as technical problems, but focusing on the goals and keeping things simple made them succeed. The awards North Sailing has received are encouraging them to renovate further ships – the second ship fitted with an electrical engine will be launched in July 2016. North Sailing is launching the second ship with an electrical engine in July 2016. The ship used to be a whale-hunting vessel that sank in the Sandgerdi harbor some years ago. Now it is being restored and given a new second chance as an eco-friendly whale watching vessel. The ship has no sails, but will be used with Iceland's green electricity for voyages in the Skjálfandi Bay. It will be the ninth ship in their fleet. By 2020, the whole company aims to be completely carbon neutral, using electric propulsion on day tours and hybrid regenerative systems and diesel as emergency power on longer expeditions where possible. North Sailing is also thinking about building a new boat, since not so many old boats are available anymore. The development of the Regenerative Plug-In Hybrid Propulsion System was achieved in cooperation with the projects Nordic Marina and RENSEA (Clean oceans). The design criteria in the projects were to be able to conduct a 4-hour whale-watching trip on batteries, and a Greenland excursion when combined with sails. North Sailing's partners are: * Charging/recharging: Naustmarine (Iceland) and Clean e-Marine (Denmark) * Propeller: Caterpillar Propulsion (Sweden) and Wave Propulsion (Norway) * Batteries: Lithium Storage (Switzerland) * Electric Motor/Generator: Baumuller (Netherlands) * Bellona and ANEL (Norway), Iceland’s Innovation Center and Icelandic New Energy, Lakeside excursions (Faroe Islands) Contact person for more information: Gudbjartur Ellert Jonsson Managing Director, North Sailing bjartur@northsailing.is