Finnish supplier Wärtsilä plans to develop an autonomous ship for deployment at the Port of Rotterdam in the hopes of finding a solution to the bottleneck problem that plagues in major container ports.

More specifically, an autonomous barge will be launched to increase the overall efficiency within the port by using automated cargo transshipment, Wärtsilä writes in a press release.

"We believe that overland transport modes will not be able to absorb the emerging capacity bottleneck for internal container movement," says Hendrik Busshoff, Business Development Engineer at Wärtsilä Voyage.

According to Wärtsilä, the autonomous systems have already been tested in congested and busy waters, including the Port of Singapore.

The initiative is part of a project includes the development of an overall plan that will establish how traffic between ports can be made carbon neutral by 2050.

The project has been awarded 25 million in EU funding and will result in more sustainable and smart port logistics.

English Edit: Christoffer Østergaard

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