It was already announced last year by Yara Birkeland: the world's first autonomous, all-electric container ship. If all goes well, it will sail the world's oceans in 2020 under the flag of the first fully autonomous shipping company Massterly.
The Yara Birkeland is being developed in collaboration between Norwegian chemical company Yara and Norwegian technology company Kongsberg, which has close ties with the maritime world. Massterly is the result of a collaboration between Kongsberg and Norwegian ship management company Wilhelmsen.
According to the plans, Massterly will design and build autonomous ships, including control systems and logistics services. On land, it will use control centres where the ships will be monitored and in some cases remotely operated and controlled. The vessels will operate in Norwegian waters as well as internationally.
According to Wilhelmsen, the development is currently at the beginning but the company expects a significant market for this kind of solution in the near future. The initial focus is expected to be on short ship voyages. This will also increase competition between sea and road transport. Besides improved efficiency, the company mainly expects a reduction in emissions. In short, good for the wallet and the environment!
Massterly will be based in the Norwegian town of Lysaker and will be fully operational from August. The video below provides some more information in advance.
