Development of world's first autonomous, zeroemission feeder postponed amid COVID-19 crisis
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the
changed global outlook, the development of the
world's first autonomous and electric container
vessel Yara Birkeland is put on hold, Norwegian
company Yara announced.
Yara has decided to pause further
development of the vessel and will assess next
steps together with its partners, the company
stated. The hull of the Yara Birkeland vessel was
launched to sea in Romania in February 2020. The
ship is expected to arrive at the Norwegian
shipyard in May where it will be fitted with various
control and navigation systems and undergo testing
before delivery to Yara.
Yara and technology company Kongsberg
teamed up in 2017 with the ambition to build the
world's first autonomous and zero-emission
container vessel.
Replacing 40,000 truck journeys a year, Yara
Birkeland seeks to reduce NOx and CO2 emissions
and improve road safety in a densely populated
urban area in Norway.
(Adapted from: https://safety4sea.com)