Development of First Fully Autonomous Ship, Yara Birkeland, Put on Hold Due To Coronavirus

From GCaptain:

Development of the world’s first fully autonomous containership has been put on hold indefinitely amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In 2017, Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara teamed up with maritime technology company Kongsberg to develop the first fully autonomous and zero-emission containership. The 120 TEU ship, named Yara Birkeland, was planned cut emissions and reduce road transport by up to 40,000 truckloads per year while transporting fertilizer products from Yara’s Porsgrunn plant to Norway’s Brevik and Larvik ports.

The coronavirus pandemic, however, has thrown a wrench in those plans....MORE

Previously:
"Norwegian Autonomous Ship Project Secures Major Funding"

The idea of autonomous ships on the high seas has one potentially big issue.
Should there be a problem with either propulsion or navigation, the cost of getting a crew on location to do repairs could be quite high.
That is one of the reasons initial trials will be attempted in littoral and coastal zones....

Shipping: He May Not Have Received His Nobel Prizes But The World's First Fully Electric Autonomous Container Ship Will Be Called the Birkeland

Norwegian Government to Chip In $17 Million to Develop the First Electric Autonomous Cargo Ship

"Norway Takes Lead in Race to Build Autonomous Cargo Ships"

Shipping: The Future of Inland Shipping May Be Yara's Autonomous Electric 'Birkeland'

And many more on Professor Birkeland, Yara, autonomous ships etc. Use the search blog box if interested.
And some of the competition for ships:
Infrastructure: "Norway’s $47 Billion Coastal Highway"

.....With many of the fjords along the route being too wide or too deep for conventional infrastructure to cross, innovative new solutions are being investigated by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

Rogfast is the first in a series of crossings that will link the E39, connecting Stavanger and Haugesund via a 27 kilometre, 16 mile under sea tunnel.

Above: Rogfast will be the longest undersea road tunnel in the world

(image courtesy of the Norwegian Public Roads  Administration, Norconsult A/S and Baezeni Co., Ltd). 

This structure will reach depths of up to 390 metres below sea level, making it the deepest as well as the longest undersea road tunnel in the world.

The Rogfast project will in fact consist of two tunnels connected every 250 metres with emergency exits. Each tunnel will have a lay-by at 500 metre intervals, along with telephone and surveillance cameras along the route......MUCH MORE