The first autonomous ship in the world Yara Birkeland of the Norwegian company Yara will launch in 2018, and is expected to be fully autonomous in 2020.
According to Wall Street Journal, the Norwegian construction Yara Birkeland θα χρησιμοποιεί GPS, ραντάρ, κάμερες και αισθητήρες για να κινείται ανάμεσα σε άλλα σκάφη στα πολυσύχναστα λιμάνια και να φτάνει στις αποβάθρες από μόνο του. Αναμένεται να κοστίσει περίπου $25 εκατομμύρια δολάρια, που είναι περίπου τρεις φορές πιο πολλά χρήματα από ένα τυπικό πλοίο μεταφοράς εμπορευματοκιβωτίων του ίδιου μεγέθους. Όμως οι επενδυτές λένε ότι, χωρίς την ανάγκη για καύσιμα ή για πλήρωμα, το ετήσιο functional costs should be reduced by up to 90 percent. The ship will become autonomous in stages, Yara said.
"Yara Birkeland will initially work as a manned boat, will be running 2019 with remote control and is expected to be able to perform fully autonomous trips from 2020," the company said in a post on the website her since May.
The Birkeland ship with a capacity of 100 containers has been developed by the agricultural company Yara International and the technology company Kongsberg Gruppen jointly. It is planned at the end of 2018 to start the transfer of fertilizers from a unit partreatments in the port of Larvik, about 37 miles away.
Yara Petter Ostbo, head of The Wall Street Journal, said the company will look to invest in larger ships capable of longer journeys as soon as international regulations for autonomous ships are set. "Perhaps even to transfer our fertilizer from the Netherlands all the way to Brazil".
