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PortandTerminal.com, November 28, 2020
OSLO, NORWAY – Norwegian shipbuilding firm Vard said Friday it had delivered the Yara Birkeland – the vessel that will be the world’s first all-electric autonomous container ship – to its owners Yara International.
In 2017, Yara, a Norwegian chemical company and one of the world’s largest fertilizer makers, partnered with the Norwegian technology company Kongsberg to build the fully battery-powered container vessel to transport chemicals and fertilizer autonomously and without emissions along the coast of Norway.
The 120 TEU open hatch container feeder was initially due to enter service as a manned vessel in 2018 before being converted for autonomous operations by 2020. Before the project was shelved, those dates had shifted to 2020 delivery and fully autonomous operations by 2022.
According to available info, Yara Birkeland will be used to ship products from Yara’s Porsgrunn production plant to Brevik and Larvik in Norway, reducing diesel-powered truck haulage by 40,000 journeys a year.
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