The world’s first electric and self-propelled container ship Yara Birkeland set sail for the first time. On 19 November the ship sailed from Oslo fjord, Norway. However, this is not a commercial journey. Rather, it can be called a symbolic journey as part of a formality. The Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gar Storr paid a short visit to the ship. The ship will begin commercial operations next year.
The Yara Birkeland was built by VARD, a subsidiary of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. The Kongsberg Group has provided technical assistance. The funding was provided by Innova, a fund for climate and energy technology in Norway. They paid about 1.5 crore dollars to build the world’s first electric and self-propelled ship.
Yara Birkeland will transport mineral fertilizer between the Norwegian ports of Porsgrunn and Brevik. Ship authorities hope the ship will play a significant role in reducing emissions.
The ship’s shelf-propulsion technology has been tested for about two years. Kongsberg has provided all the latest technology used in this ship. The ship will be operated remotely from the Masterly Monitoring and Operations Centre in Horten, Norway, making it the world’s first autonomous container ship.
