The world's first fully electric, zero-emission autonomous container ship is a reality. The "Yara Birkeland" was delivered to the Norwegian company "Yara Norge AS" in November 2020 and is currently in the port of Horten , where shipbuilders are carrying out work and testing on its autonomous operation system.
According to the company's schedule, it is estimated that the ship will be ready to officially begin its voyages by the end of 2021.
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Yara Birkeland was ordered by Yara in 2017 and built by the Norwegian company “Kongsberg Maritime”. The hull was constructed at the Vard Braila shipyard in Romania. The construction of the ship was stopped in May 2020, due to demanding issues that had to be resolved in the area of autonomous supply.
Its first test voyage was completed in December 2020, with the ship traveling for almost seven hours – from Brevik to Horten.
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Kongsberg Maritime released a video about the Yara Birkeland in 2017, giving a general overview of the ship, which was still under construction at the time. The company seemed very optimistic at the time, as the video description stated that “construction would be completed in the second half of 2018,” but that is likely to happen this year.
According to “Hellenic Shipping News”, Yara stated that at this time its priority for the Yara Birkeland is to start transporting goods with zero emissions. In addition, the site points out that the new constructions at the Herøya have been completed, while a few more processes remain, which are expected to be completed by next autumn, so that the Yara Birkeland will be ready for the official start of its routes.
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The Yara Birkeland is estimated to carry approximately 40 to 60% of Yara's cargo volume until the end of 2021. At the same time, preparations are being made on the ship throughout this period to complete the first phase of the reduced-staff sailing program .
When this goal is achieved, the ship will have reached the desired level of development, so that in two years, as estimated, it will be fully autonomous and will not require human intervention for its operation.
