EMEA News
Autonomous Battery-Powered Container Ship Completes Maiden Voyage
The world's first autonomous, battery-powered container ship has completed its maiden voyage in Norway.
The 120 TEU container ship Yara Birkeland took its maiden voyage in the Oslo fjord, and is set to start commercial operations next year, commodity producer Yara said in a statement on its website on Friday.
The ship will carry mineral fertilizer between Porsgrunn and Brevik. The company will test the ship for two years before it can be certified as self-propelled.
"On the way to a low-emission society, transport emissions must come down to almost zero," Nils Kristian Nakstad, CEO of Norwegian government enterprise Enova, said in the statement.
"To achieve that, we need projects that can transform the market - projects that have the potential to pave the way for others and increase the pace of change in their sector.
"This is exactly what we believe the world's first autonomous and all-electric container ship will do."
Enova allocated up to NOK 133.5 million ($15 million) to fund the vessel's development.
