Published in News

Norway releases zero emission ship

by on22 November 2021


Time to go Viking automatically

Norway has just launched the world's first fully electric autonomous cargo vessel.

Norway has had zero emission ships before, but they involved rowing by blokes who were powered by rape and pillage.  This ship is electric and does not have a crew member, or a single axe on board.

The Yara Birkeland will move up to 120 containers of fertiliser from a plant in the southeastern town of Porsgrunn to the Brevik port a dozen kilometres (about eight miles) away and will eliminate the need for around 40,000 truck journeys a year that are now fuelled by polluting diesel.

The 80-meter, 3,200-deadweight tonne ship will soon begin two years of working trials during which it will be fine-tuned to learn to manoeuvre on its own.

The wheelhouse could disappear altogether in "three, four or five years", said Holsether, once the vessel makes its 7.5-nautical-mile trips on its own with the aid of sensors.

Project manager Jostein Braaten said: "Quite a lot of the incidents happening on vessels are due to human error, because of fatigue for instance. Autonomous operating can enable a safe journey.”

On board the Yara Birkeland, the traditional machine room has been replaced by eight battery compartments, giving the vessel a capacity of 6.8 MWh -- sourced from renewable hydroelectricity.

"That's the equivalent of 100 Teslas", says Braaten.

The maritime sector, which is responsible for almost three percent of all man-made emissions, aims to reduce its emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050. Despite that, the sector has seen a rise in recent years.

 

Last modified on 23 November 2021
Rate this item
(1 Vote)

Read more about: