Norwegian fertilizer company Yara and maritime technology firm Kongsberg Gruppe are teaming up to build the world’s first autonomous and zero emissions container feeder ship.
The vessel will initially operate as a manned vessel in the latter half of 2018 and expected to be capable of performing fully autonomous operations from 2020. It is planned to ship products from Yara’s Porsgrunn production plant to Brevik and Larvik in Norway.
“Every day, more than 100 diesel truck journeys are needed to transport products from YARA’s Porsgrunn plant to ports in Brevik and Larvik where we ship products to customers around the world. With this new autonomous battery-driven container vessel we move transport from road to sea and thereby reduce noise and dust emissions, improve the safety of local roads, and reduce NOx and CO2 emissions,” said Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of Yara.
Kongsberg will deliver the technology required for the vessel, including the sensors and integration required for remote and autonomous operations, in addition to the electric drive, battery and propulsion control systems.
