The verified answer
As of Sep 2026, DEPLOY verifies Yara International: 1 model, 1 deployment across 1 region, $15.0M raised. 2 sources back the record.
CategoryMaritime
Overview
Yara International is a Norwegian chemical company that developed the MV Yara Birkeland, the world's first fully autonomous electric container ship. Launched in 2020 and commencing commercial operations in 2022, the 80-meter vessel carries fertilizer between Herøya and Brevik, Norway, replacing approximately 40,000 annual truck journeys with zero-emission maritime transport.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 1 deployment on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Valuation of record
DEPLOY VERIFIEDPriced roundOther post-money
Key facts
Ship cost
Battery capacity
Capacity
Route
Data & sources
Web sources
2
2 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Yara International on the deployment map
View the global map1 verified deployment across 1 region, newest verified Jun 2024. Explore where Yara International's robots are operating, by place and type.
View the full Yara International deployment record →
Relationships
Current leadership (1)
- Svein Tore Holsether CEOsecondary-verified
Safety record
No incidents on record for Yara International.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operator customers (1)
- Yara International1 deployment
Recent coverage
Yara International in third-party press
Peers
34 peers across 1 segment. Every Yara International competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
marine(34)
29 companies in this segment · highly_concentrated (HHI 5727.802012906746) · leader Anduril Industries at 7141%
- Anduril Industriesdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- BAE Systemsdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Bedrock Oceandirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Blue Roboticsdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Blue Water Autonomydirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Deep Trekkerdirect competitor(inferred)strong
Supplied by (1)
Foundation model / software
- Kongsbergvia Yara BirkelandKongsberg Maritime K-Pos DP + autonomous navigation and remote operations systemsupplies
Inbound supply edges feeding this company directly or via the models it owns. Same source bar as the outbound view (verified against at least two strong sources).
Financial state
- Total funding
- $15.0M
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- mature
- Counterparty risk class
- low
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (1)
- Other2017-09-01
$15M(reported) · $75M post
Investors: Norwegian Government
Timeline
Every recorded move in Yara International’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
Funding roundOther funding round
2017-09-01Other raising $15000000
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
Yara Birkeland's Voyage from Horten to Oslo
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
Yara Birkeland — world's first autonomous zero-emission container ship
- Record createdJun 7, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJun 1, 2024
Yara Birkeland at Porsgrunn
Sources (2)
Common questions
What is Yara International?
What does Yara International make?
Is Yara International publicly traded?
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How much funding has Yara International raised?
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Where does Yara International operate robots?
How many robots has Yara International deployed?
Is Yara International a top robotics company?
When was Yara International founded?
Is Yara International safe?
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Yara International.Peer companies
- Saildrone4 models
- Saronic Technologies4 models
- BAE Systems3 models
- Kongsberg Maritime3 models
- Rekise Marine3 models
- L3Harris2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Yara International from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
MV Yara Birkeland - Wikipedia
Wikipedia article on the MV Yara Birkeland, the world's first autonomous commercial container ship, carrying fertilizer between Herøya and Brevik, Norway.
Yara Birkeland electric container ship starts commercial operations
Yara Birkeland commenced commercial operations, becoming the first fully autonomous and zero-emission container ship in the world.
World's First Autonomous Ship to Launch in 2018
Fortune reports on Yara Birkeland, the world's first fully autonomous electric container ship, planned to launch in 2018 and reduce 40,000 truck journeys per year.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/yara-birkeland.md
- RSS feed: /companies/yara-birkeland/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/571e2b9f-329e-4b65-a15e-f4da689c1ced
- Revision history: /companies/yara-birkeland/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Saildrone4 models
- Saronic Technologies4 models
- BAE Systems3 models
- Kongsberg Maritime3 models
- Rekise Marine3 models
- L3Harris2 models
Video
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The first commercial autonomous vessel in the world, and also the first commercial zero ballast vessel. A game changer for the environment and for the shipping
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First test drive with model of Yara Birkeland, the world's first autonomous and fully electric vessel. The test was conducted at SINTEF’s premises in Trondheim,
Heat Index
Category contender75/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Yara International draws attention at the 8th percentile but verifies reality at the 18th percentile among maritime_surface robots. Hype Gap -10.2, 13th widest among maritime_surface robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 1 verified deployment. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Sep 6, 2026