YARA, Norway, and KONGSBERG, Norway, form a partnership to build what is said to be the world’s first autonomous and zero emissions ship.

Operation of the vessel, “YARA Birkeland,” is planned to start in the latter half of 2018, shipping products from YARA’s Porsgrunn production plant to Brevik and Larvik in Norway.

Named “YARA Birkeland” after YARA’s founder, scientist and innovator Kristian Birkeland, the vessel is dubbed as the world’s first fully electric container feeder. YARA’s new vessel will reduce NOx and CO₂ emissions and improve road safety by removing up to 40,000 truck journeys in populated urban areas.

YARA Birkeland will initially operate as a manned vessel, moving to remote operation in 2019 and expected to be capable of performing fully autonomous operations from 2020.

KONGSBERG is responsible for development and delivery of all key enabling technologies on YARA Birkeland, including the sensors and integration required for remote and autonomous operations, in addition to the electric drive, battery and propulsion control systems.

Yara International ASA
+47 24 15 70 00
www.yara.com

KONGSBERG
+47 33 03 24 07
www.km.kongsberg.com