Page 16 - NORWAY EXPORTS Maritime 2017-18

autonomous ships

go larger and greener

Norway’s maritime industry has swiftly evolved expanded its focus from small-scale
driverless shipsboats , mostly small ferries, to larger autonomous offshore supply
vessels and zero-emissions container ship concepts.
By Valeria Criscione

Norway has progressed rapidly in technologies related to autonomous electric and autonomous ship. The battery-
autonomous shipping with both the shipping under the research programme powered container ship will reduce NOx
number of test beds for new driverless AUTOSEA, together with Kongsberg and CO emissions and remove 40,000
2
concepts and the scale of projects. Since Maritime and Maritime Robotics. containers from the roads by shipping from
the start of the Norwegian Forum for Yara’s Porsgrunn production plant to the
Autonomous Shipping (NFAS) last year, As part of another pilot project, Norwegian ports of Brevik and Larvik. The company
the number of members has grown to 50 industrial group Kongsberg, Risavika calls Yara Birkeland a “game changer” for
companies, organisations and universities Harbour in western Norway, shipowner global maritime transport that meets the
participating in up to 10 autonomous Seatrans, the Norwegian Coastal United Nations’ Sustainable Development
shipping projects. The largest of these Administration and DNV GL are developing Goals (SDG).
could be Yara’s battery driven container a battery driven container feeder concept
feeder Yara Birkeland, which could set a for shuttling goods autonomously without Disruptive Technology
huge milestone as the world’s fi rst fully crew from Stavanger to Bergen. The The environment has been a driving force for
electric and autonomous container ship. pilot is part of phase two of the DNV autonomous shipping in the wake of the Paris
GL-led initiative Green Coastal Shipping Climate Agreement, increasing sulphur cap
“I would claim that it started with MUNIN,” Programme, which aims to reduce the regulations for global shipping, and the UN
says Ørnulf Jan Rødseth, SINTEF Ocean volume of goods transported by road and SDGs. Although not regulated by the Paris
senior researcher and NFAS manager. “In reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deal, the Norwegian maritime industry has
2012, nobody believed in this, but suddenly ships. taken signifi cant steps towards becoming
it exploded.” greener. Most recently, the Norwegian
Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara has Shipowners’ Association announced plans
Reducing Road Transport similar goals with its unmanned vessel. last June to cut emissions in half by 2050,
SINTEF Ocean (then Marintek) was Planned for operation by 2020, the Yara and become carbon emissions free by 2100
technical advisor for the EU project MUNIN, Birkeland could be the world’s fi rst fully to help reach the SDGs.
a three-year concept study for unmanned
bulk shipping from 2012-2015. The aim
of the project was to study an unmanned
Handymax bulk carrier concept. Others,
such as classifi cation company DNV GL,
have simultaneously developed its own
autonomous cargo concept called ReVolt.

ReVolt is based on a 60-metre fully electric
unmanned shortsea vessel with a cargo
capacity of 100 twenty-foot containers. A
small-scale model is currently being used
by the Norwegian University of Science
and Technology (NTNU) to test different

Sea trials of three-metre model of ReVolt
during testing by students from NTNU
at the Trondheim fjord.
© DNV GL

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