Top Stories of the Week: August 23-27

                                       A roundup of this week's top stories

• Yara Birkeland: the world's first autonomous, all-electric cargo ship

  Norwegian fertiliser company Yara International has built what it claims is the world's first autonomous, crewless, zero-emission cargo ship, set to take off on its maiden voyage later this year...

• China's Baidu unveils its first L5 autonomous robocar

  Chinese search engine Baidu has revealed its first Level 5 autonomous "robocar" at its annual flagship technology conference, Baidu World 2021...

• Sandvik makes string of acquisitions in summer shopping spree

  Swedish engineering group Sandvik has embarked on a series of acquisitions throughout the past two months in a push to further expand the group's reach...

• Boeing opens Aerospace Xelerated calls for startups

  Boeing has opened applications for its "Aerospace Xelerated" scheme to offer to fund both aerospace and tech startups designed to tackle some of the pressing issues of the aviation sector...

• ALPLA acquires packaging manufacturer Wolf Plastics

  Packaging and recycling specialist The ALPLA Group has announced it is acquiring all shares in packaging manufacturer the Wolf Plastics Group...

• Maersk orders carbon-neutral vessels in decarbonisation push

  Danish shipping giant Maersk has ordered eight new vessels, each with a capacity of 16,000 containers, that run on carbon-neutral methanol in a push to decarbonise its fleet and meet increasing consumer demand for greener transportation...

• Post-Brexit UKCA certification delayed following industry pressure

  The UK government has decided to increase the deadline of the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) safety and quality mark by another year, allowing more time for British businesses to mark their goods under the new guidelines, bowing to industry pressure..