The project, reaffirmed by the CEO of Fincantieri Giuseppe Bono during the last meeting of shareholders, was already announced in 2018 and is about to see the light within a few months, by the beginning of 2020: Vard, a Norwegian company owned by the Italian naval giant, is building the world's first self-driving and electric container ship. Artificial Intelligence, after having experimented with autonomous driving for cars and subways, therefore also lands among the waves of the sea: the jewel is called Yara Birkeland and by 2022 it will also be able to navigate without a crew, according to what was announced by the company.
The first smart ship in the world has been commissioned by another Norwegian company, Yara International, specialized in "green" fertilizers and precision agriculture solutions offered to farmers to increase yields while reducing the environmental impact, which will use it to transport goods from the Porsgrunn factory to the ports in Brevik and Larvik, also in the Scandinavian country, from where the products are then shipped all over the world. A minimal distance, given that the localities are only a few kilometers apart, but thanks to its Yara capacity – 80 meters long and 15 meters wide – will save 40.000 truck journeys each year and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, while also improving road safety in a highly populated and busy area.
The company, which operates in 60 countries around the world employing 17.000 people, did not provide details on the investment figures, while it is known that the technology used is also Norwegian-made: the ship was designed by the Marin Teknikk studio, while the technologies onboard enablers, including the sensors and systems needed for remote and autonomous operations are taken care of by the team Kongsberg, who bought Rolls Royce's marine division for half a billion pounds last year. In any case, the operation will eventually be labeled made in Italy, under the aegis of Fincantieri.
