The world's first electric and self propelled container ship Yara Birkeland has departed for its maiden voyage in the Oslo fjord.
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“We are proud to be able to showcase the world's first fully electric and self propelled container ship. It will cut 1,000 tonnes of CO2 and replace 40,000 trips by diesel powered trucks a year, says Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara.
Friday morning, he welcomed Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy Bjørnar Skjæran on Yara Birkeland, after the ship had completed its maiden voyage to Oslo, Norway.
Yara Birkeland has been developed in collaboration with the Kongsberg Group (KONGSBERG). The ship was built by VARD with financial support from Enova, and will be in commercial operation from 2022.
“We have been looking forward to this day for a long time. Yara Birkeland will transport mineral fertilizer between Porsgrunn and Brevik and will contribute to significant emission cuts during transport. This is an excellent example of green transition in practice, and we hope this ship will be the start of a new type of emission free container ships. There are a lot of places in the world with congested roads that will benefit from a high tech solution like this, says Holsether.
Now begins a two year testing period of the technology that will make the ship self propelled, and finally certified as an autonomous, all electric container ship.
Yara Birkeland is a collaborative project between several actors, where KONGSBERG is responsible for the development and delivery of all newly developed technology on the ship. The ship will be operated from Massterlys’ monitoring and operations center in Horten. Massterly is a joint venture between KONGSBERG and Wilhelmsen.
Enova, a government enterprise responsible for promotion of renewable energy, has allocated up to NOK 133.5 million to build the world's first electric and autonomous container ship.
In parallel with the construction of Yara Birkeland, Yara has initiated the development of green ammonia as an emission free fuel for shipping, through the newly started Yara Clean Ammonia.
"As the world's largest producer of ammonia, Yara has launched an offensive plan of international scale, both to remove current emissions and to establish the production of new, clean ammonia,” says Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand, CEO of Yara Clean Ammonia. ■