Maiden voyage for autonomous and emission-free container ship

Yara has debuted its long-awaited Yara Birkeland, the world’s first electric and autonomous container ship for emission-free shipping. The ship departed for its maiden voyage Friday in the Oslo fjord.
“We are proud to be able to showcase the world’s first fully electric and self-propelled container ship. It will cut 1,000 tonnes of CO2 and replace 40,000 trips by diesel-powered trucks a year, said Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara.
Yara has been working with maritime technology company Kongsberg on the development of the vessel since 2017 – a pioneering project leading the maritime shipping industry’s journey towards autonomous operations and zero-emission shipping. The project was nearly derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed the planned delivery of the vessel by over a year.