Vessel project aims for zero emissions

The Yara Birkeland vessel has been designed to transport fertiliser from Yara’s Porsgrunn plant in Norway via inland waterways to the ports of Larvik and Brevik and aims to remove up to 40,000 truck journeys annually in the region.

Kalmar will provide one Kalmar Automated Rail Mounted Gantry Crane (AutoRMG), three Kalmar FastCharge(TM) AutoStrads, a FastCharge charging station and related automation and safety systems, as well as transportation between the fertilizer production facilities and the end destination quaysides.

“We are very excited to work with Yara on this unique groundbreaking project. The project involves several firsts for us, including the first fully automated RMG for vessel loading, unloading and container storage management. Furthermore, the Kalmar FastCharge AutoStrads will drive along the public roads in the Porsgrunn industrial park, which is also used by normal road traffic,” said Tero Kokko, senior vice president, automation and projects at Kalmar, part of Cargotec.

Phased implementation

The solution will be implemented in phases, with the level of automation gradually increased over time. Delivery is scheduled to be completed during the second quarter of 2020.

“With this agreement, Yara Birkeland is not just the world’s first electric and autonomous container vessel; it is the world’s first fully digitalised and electric supply chain, with all operations, including loading, unloading and sailing conducted in a fully autonomous manner with zero emissions,” said Tove Andersen, EVP Production at Yara.

Yara has partnered with technology company Kongsberg to design and build the container vessel.