Norway-based maritime technology firm Kongsberg Gruppe is linking with Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara to build what they said would be the world’s first fully electric and self-steering container ship. “The new zero-emission vessel will be a game-changer for global maritime transport contributing to meet the United Nations sustainability goals,” the companies said on May 9th.
The autonomous container feeder would cut emissions from road transportwhen moving products from Yara’s Porsgrunn plant to Brevik and Larvik Ports in Norway, the companies claimed. The ship is expected to operate initially as a manned vessel, moving to remote-controlled operation in 2019 and to fully autonomous mode from 2020.