The world’s first self-driving and all-electric container ship, owned by fertilizer producer Yara, is preparing to move to Norway’s south coast and join the cleanup industry of this country.
The Yara Birkeland, the so-called 80-meter (87 yards) feeder vessel, is set to replace trucking between Yara’s factory in Porsgrunn in southern Norway and its export port in Brevik, a few miles away. about 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) by road, starting next year.
It will cut 1,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year, the equivalent of 40,000 diesel-powered road trips, and is expected to be fully autonomous in two years.
For Yara, that means reducing CO2 emissions at their plant in Porsgrunn, one of the biggest source on CO2, Svein CEO Tore Holsether said.
“We’ve now taken this technological leap to show that it’s possible, and I think there are a lot of routes in the world where the same type of train can be deployed,” he told Reuters. .
Built by Vard Norway, Kongsberg provides key technology including the sensors and integrations needed for automated and remote operations.
“This is not about replacing sailors, but about replacing truck drivers,” said Jostein Braaten, Yara’s ship project manager. know at the pier.
The ship will load and unload, charge the battery and navigate without human involvement.
Sensors will be able to quickly detect and understand objects like an underwater kayak so the ship can decide what action to take to avoid hitting anything, Braaten said.
The system should be an improvement over having a manual system, he added.
“We removed the human factor, which is also the cause of many of the accidents we see today,” says Braaten.
The ship will make two trips a week to begin with, capable of transporting 120 containers of 20-foot fertilizer at a time.
It is powered by batteries supplied by Leclanche Switzerland, packing 7 megawatt hours in eight battery rooms, or 100 Tesla Braaten said.
© Thomson Reuters 2021
