The ship was first conceived in 2017 in collaboration with Kongsberg Maritime Technologies and Vard Shipbuilding, and was built by Yara International. The shipping challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have delayed the launch of the Yara Birkeland, which was originally scheduled for 2020.
If all goes according to plan, the ship, called Yara Birkeland, will set sail for the first time later this year, carrying cargo from the town of Herøya to Brevik, Norway, with a small crew on board to test the autonomous system. All commands on board will be monitored remotely by three data control centers on shore.
It's not the world's first autonomous water transport vehicle - Finland launched a driverless ferry in 2018 - but the Yara Birkeland is the first electric cargo ship without a crew.
"The Yara Birkeland is designed to be fully electric and can carry 103 containers at speeds of up to 13 knots (about 25 km/h)," said Jon Sletten, director of the Yara factory in Porsgrunn, Norway. The ship will be recharged at the port and then "drive to loading and unloading locations along the coast and return autonomously, single-handedly replacing more than 40,000 truck trips a year," he added.
According to the International Maritime Organization, the shipping industry currently accounts for 2.5% to 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Yara Birkeland not only reduces these emissions, but also reduces the cost burden on shipping companies by not having to hire a crew.
Rudy Negenborn, Professor of Maritime Technology and Transport at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, said fully autonomous ships like the Yara Birkeland will soon become commonplace. However, he also said there are many challenges that need to be overcome before autonomous ships can be used for long-distance commercial voyages at sea.
“At some point, when we have large numbers of these autonomous ships in operation, those ships will have to start interacting with each other to exchange information and avoid collisions.” And without a crew to do maintenance checks, autonomous ships will need built-in diagnostic systems that can detect and fix problems, or know how to call for help from humans, and we have a long way to go before we get to that point. That’s not to mention the legal issues of ships moving between countries.
"The Yara Birkeland is currently operating along the Norwegian coast, but what if one day it could go further, entering other waters and territories? Who would be responsible if an accident occurred?" - Professor Negenborn said, "In any case, this is a distant prospect, I think we should first focus on considering autonomous functions suitable for the domestic transport industry."
