Although all eyes have been focused on autonomous vehicles in recent years, autonomous vehicles in the future will not be just cars. Yara Birkeland could be the future of cargo ships. Because this container ship is completely battery powered, produces zero emissions and does not require any human crew.
Are We Ready for Unmanned Ships?
We are used to the dry cargo ships that you can see all the time when you take a look at the Bosphorus. However, the idea of seeing these as unmanned, a completely uncrewed ship is not the kind we are used to. But while we’re focusing more on self-driving cars now, many vehicles will be driverless in the future, including ships.
Designed by a Norwegian company, Yara Birkeland is ready to go. After 4 years of work, Yara Birkeland, which is ready for its first voyage, can operate completely without a crew and is battery powered. Onboard batteries generate 7 megawatt-hours of energy, which can give the ship a top speed of 13 knots or 15 mph. It is also among the information given that 103 containers can be transported in this process.
Of course, for now, all the work is being done for the ship to reach from point A to point B completely unmanned, but manpower is still needed for cargo loading. But if the Tesla Bot project, Tesla’s 1.72 cm tall humanoid robot, which we shared with you recently, comes to life or if the Atlas robots of the AI company Boston Dynamics are put into use, then things can change.
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