Wilhelmsen and Kongsberg are joining forces to take the next step in autonomous shipping with the start of Massterly, a company offering a complete value chain for autonomous ships, from design and development, to control systems, logistics services and vessel operations.
Land-based control centres will be established to monitor and operate autonomous ships in Norway and internationally. Within Massterly, Kongsberg will supply technological expertise and solutions and Wilhelmsen's will take care of logistics and ship management operations. Norway’s position as a leading maritime nation also creates opportunities in the development of next-generation maritime personnel.
Yara Birkeland
A key milestone in Norway’s maritime autonomy story arch was the announcement of Yara Birkeland in May 2017. It will be the world's first fully-electric container vessel and will be completely autonomous by 2020, sailing between Yara's Norwegian production facilities at Herøya and the ports of Brevik and Larvik. Massterly can deliver and operate autonomous vessels such as Yara Birkeland.
Significant Market in the Near Future
'Currently, we are at the very beginning of this development, but we see and believe that there will be a significant market for these types of services in the near future. At first, short sea shipping will use autonomous ships. This also implies increased competitiveness to move transport from road to sea. The gains are increased efficiency and reduction of emissions. For Norway as a maritime nation, this will be an important contribution to reach the UN sustainable development goals, says Thomas Wilhelmsen, Wilhelmsen group CEO.
The new joint venture company will be based at offices in Lysaker, Norway, and be fully operational from August 2018.
Watch a video about Massterly below.
