Fincantieri and Viking have revealed plans to build the industry’s first hydrogen-powered cruise ships.

According to a joint announcement, the Viking Libra and the Viking Astrea will be able to operate with zero emissions.

The ships are currently being built in Italy at Fincantieri, with deliveries scheduled for 2026 and 2027, respectively.

According to Fincantieri, the new ships will address the issues of distribution, logistics and storage of hydrogen through a new technology that relies on containers.

The containerized fuel will power a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell system specifically optimized for cruise operations.

The solution was developed by Isotta Fraschini Motori, a subsidiary of Fincantieri specialized in engines and advanced fuel cell technology.

“Relying on our expertise, we truly have industrialized a solution that today is commercialized and a reality,” said Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO and Managing Director of Fincantieri.

Folgiero added that the technology originated from the vision of Viking and the company’s Chairman and CEO Torstein Hagen.

“We are truly honored to have joined forces with Viking by working on the application of hydrogen on ships,” he continued, noting that the market is sensitive to using the fuel at sea.

“This project is very important because it means that those ideas are marketable and possible to be industrialized,” Folgiero added.

“We are happy to put together Viking’s vision for the future, as well as its entrepreneurship and courage in being an icebreaker in innovation.”

According to Viking’s Hagen, the company aims to work with liquefied hydrogen.

“One of the problems that we have is that the supply system for this has not been developed yet. So, until further notice, our way of dealing with it is to have hydrogen containerized,” he explained.

“We can handle containers; everybody can do that. We hope that this is a way towards a time when we all most likely will be in a hydrogen economy,” Hagen said, adding that the task is not inexpensive.