Yara Birkeland, the world's first autonomous electric container ship, completed her maiden voyage last week, arriving in Oslo, Norway. The new ship is capable of carrying 120 TEUs, a figure that - while small compared to mega-ships - is impressive for a zero-emission vessel. In fact, Yara Birkeland is the world's first self-powered zero-emission container ship. As part of the ship's maiden voyage last week, Yara Birkeland crossed the Oslo Fjord. The ship has received the support and funding needed from the Norwegian government to make it a reality. It cost more than $15 million to build and release, which is a significant sum. From next year, 2022, the ship will be put into commercial operation and will be used to transport fertilizers. Yara, the Norwegian fertilizer company, is celebrating the launch as the beginning of a new, clearer shipping era. Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara, welcomed the launch and said: "We are proud to present the world's first fully electric and self-propelled container ship. It will reduce 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year and replace 40,000 trips with diesel-powered trucks." He added: "This is a great example of a green transition in practice and we hope this ship will be the beginning of a new class of zero-emission container ships." There are many parts of the world with congested roads that would benefit from a high-tech solution like this." Like other autonomous vessels and vehicles, the ship uses a variety of sophisticated sensor technologies to detect objects in the waterways around it to avoid collisions, among other things. The technology was developed by Kongsberg Gruppen, a Norwegian technology group.