Two Norway firms to build world's first fully autonomous cargo ship

Oslo

IT SOUNDS like a ghost story: A huge cargo vessel sails up and down the Norwegian coast, silently going about its business, without a captain or crew in sight. But if all goes as planned, it's actually the future of shipping.

Last week, Kongsberg Gruppen ASA, a Norwegian maritime-technology firm, and Yara ASA, a fertiliser manufacturer, announced a partnership to build the world's first fully autonomous cargo containership.