The first self-driving electric cargo ship is ready

The first self-driving electric cargo ship is ready

Autonomous freight transport will not be limited to a handful of trucks and planes, but will soon be rolled out to ship freight as well. As reported by CNN, Yara International now plans to set sail with the first self-driving cargo ship powered by a fully electric propulsion system. Launch is expected in Norway by the end of 2021. The Yara Birkeland will travel from Herøya to Brevik with only three remote control centers overseeing the voyage.

The company first developed the concept in 2017 and the departure was originally planned for 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the trip. It is not the first unmanned ship of any kind to venture into the open sea, but it is the first fully electric model.

The type and conformation of the ship makes it rather slow, the maximum speed is in fact only 13 knots obtained from the thrust of the two 900 kW engines. No information on the charging system, but considering the presence of a 7 MWh battery the time taken will be anything but short. The owner believes that the advantages in terms of emissions and consumption will be enviable and the introduction of other models is expected; the company has estimated that Yara Birkeland will replace approximately 40,000 truck trips a year, dramatically reducing CO2 and nitrous oxide emissions in a country that is already heavily dependent on hydroelectricity.

For more capillarity could still take several months, electric cargo ships need, like cars, a series of infrastructures that are currently absent in most ports. Furthermore, the autonomous driving system could create several headaches in all those particularly busy ports such as Shanghai. Finally, the bureaucratic issues: different countries have their own naval rules with a range of responsibilities.