The
Yara Birkeland
is the first electric and soon to be unmanned container ship to navigate the seas.
On Friday, with his slender figure, he was the star of the port of Oslo.
Yara International, the Norwegian chemical group that produces nitrogenous fertilizers, is behind this project.
By ferrying up to 120 containers of fertilizer by sea from a factory in Porsgrunn, in southern Norway, to the port of Brevik, about ten kilometers away, the
Yara Birkeland
will save nearly 40,000 truck trips. per year.
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80 meters long, it can navigate at a maximum speed of 13 knots (24 km / h) and has a 7 MWh battery.
On board the
Yara Birkeland
, the engine room has been replaced by eight compartments lined with batteries.
“The equivalent of a hundred Tesla,”
explains Jostein Braaten, the project manager.
The small container ship will be completely self-sufficient in two years.
During this period, he will make two trips of about ten kilometers per week.
A journey strewn with pitfalls.
Equipped with sensors, he will have to navigate a narrow fjord, pass under two bridges, make his way through merchant ships, pleasure boats and kayaks before docking in one of Norway's most crowded ports.
Ultimately, the ship will charge and unload its cargo, recharge its batteries and navigate without human intervention.
“
The human factor is the cause of many accidents today,
” said Jostein Braaten.
