Norway to get the world's first autonomous container ship
The Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara on Wednesday signed off on the world’s first electric and self-propelled container ship — the so-called Tesla of the seas — in a landmark in the development of autonomous shipping. The vessel, a collaboration between Yara, the engineering company Kongsberg, and Vard, has received some 133.6m NOK from the Norwegian government’s green investment fund Enova. The battery-driven ship will replace the 100 diesel truck journeys a day required to transport products from Yara’s fertiliser plant in the Norwegian city of Porsgrunn to ports in Brevik and Larvik, cutting emissions of NOx and CO2 and reducing the risk of road accidents. It is fitted with radar, sensors, cameras and a global positioning systen which will allow it to leave Porsgrunn, navigate around other boat traffic, and travel the 60km down to the port. The ship will initially be controlled by a crew based in a temporary bridge stationed in one of the 100 containers on board, but Yara hopes to move the container onshore after a short period, and then control the vessel remotely.