October 8, 2021
The world’s first zero-emission, fully autonomous ship will be setting sail in Norway this year. The cargo ship, developed by Yara International, will be the first fully electric container ship to make a voyage, and is designed to reduce harmful emissions caused by freight transport. This ship will use a reduced crew to test the autonomous systems, but plans to eventually be fully monitored from onshore data control centers.
The new electric ship will help reduce the estimated 3% of global greenhouse emissions that the shipping industry is responsible for. Utilizing automated technology rather than a traditional onboard crew will also aid in cost efficiencies of shipping cargo.
The electric cargo ship named Yara Birkeland is scheduled to set sail along the Norwegian coast before the end of the year. Learn more about this technology here.