The Challenges

Port automation is the future, but the future is very much founded in the present. Automation is already helping ports around the world increase efficiency, serve more customers and handle more cargo with fewer resources, and increase visibility into the data that drives better decisions.

But there are a number of challenges facing the marine port industry that still need to be surmounted. The EPA clarified these in a recent report. In their estimation, the industry’s largest current hurdles are congestion, container management, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience. 

Each alone is a significant block to progress. Together they represent an appreciable challenge that requires ingenuity, perseverance, and technological savvy to overcome. We’ll examine each of these in detail.

Congestion

Space is a limited resource and the land around major ports is tasked in a variety of ways. This is at once a result of the economic activity that takes place within marine terminals, a support structure for this activity, and a hurdle to its growth. This is no small problem. The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) estimates that at least seven out of the ten busiest ports in the U.S. suffer congestion problems on a regular basis. The businesses and infrastructure that support and benefit from port activity also end up competing with the port for surrounding land. These spatial limitations can confound expansion and modernization efforts. But more immediately they cause congestion both within the port and without.

Externally, industrial expansion by other players in the area can cause congestion in the transportation infrastructure surrounding a port. When this happens, the flow of goods into and out of the terminal is slowed. This becomes the weakest link, damaging the rest of the port’s operations.  Even if the port expands its cargo handling capacity, its ability to process freight is limited by the capacity of the external infrastructure.

The resulting gridlock is a problem that echoes out across the supply chain. According to the NCBFAA: "Ships are stranded offshore for days, even weeks, waiting to unload. Containers are buried in enormous stacks in clogged terminal yards. Trucks wait in line for hours (up to eight or nine hours in some cases) to pick up a single container. And customers throughout the country experience shipment delays lasting weeks. The congestion and bottlenecks reverberate throughout the supply chain, becoming a significant trade barrier for both exports and imports with a corresponding negative impact on the economy."

The problem seems intractable, and solutions that attempt to tackle the external congestion directly are difficult to implement in the extreme. The short term solution comes from within and is driven by technology.

At Tideworks, our marine TOS, Mainsail10, integrates seamlessly both with our data platform, Tideworks Insight, and numerous third-party tools like ERP’s, appointment systems and OCR, LPR and RFID technologies to improve gate traffic and give modern terminals a detailed, real-time view into their operation. With Tideworks Insight, for example, you’re able to anticipate high demand on a single day and allocate resources accordingly. If you run into gate issues, Tideworks Insight allows you to drill down into the data to judge whether it was an issue in your yard, or one beyond your control, like a delayed shipment.

to explore how Tideworks improved yard control and overall terminal management by implementing Mainsail® at New Orleans Terminal. 

Container Management

This challenge is in some ways related to the previous hurdle. When space is limited, terminal expansion is frequently hampered. When storage needs scale, ports are unable to scale their yards to match. This causes critical container management problems. Due to limited capacity, full containers are often stacked deep, preventing yard operators from efficiently storing and managing them. Compounding the problem are the empty containers that must also be stored until they’re ready to be reused.

The EPA notes in their report that the related moving and storage costs are frequently higher than the value of the containers. Boston Consulting Group estimates that the costs related to repositioning empty containers hover around $20 billion dollars per year across the entire industry. What’s needed are container optimization strategies that reduce the frequency that individual containers need to be moved. 

Environmental Sustainability

Marine ports and the ships they serve operate on a scale that puts them at odds with the environment. It’s estimated that 20 percent of all marine litter is generated by the shipping industry with 34 percent of ship garbage being ejected into the sea. Ships and terminals discharge other environmental pollutants as well, including waste oil and sewage. The entirety of a port’s operations, including the myriad trucks that line up in wait for goods, contributes to air pollution. The environmental impact of the port industry is clear, and they face numerous difficulties in their efforts to abide by federal and international standards and regulations.

But the industry is rising to the challenge. The EPA’s report stresses the strides ports are making. “Many ports are investing in cleaner technologies and environmentally-friendly operating practices to meet federal and international standards,“ it says. “Many ports have also adopted Environmental Management Systems and Clean Air Programs that guide environmental decision-making. Some ports have also established Clean Air Programs.”

A report published by the Columbia School of Professional Studies demonstrates the potential for clean terminal practices. It states that: "by offering clean power alternatives, ports can be environmental stewards and protect their near port communities. One such alternative is onshore power supply (OPS), which allows ships to effectively 'plugin' to a land-based electrical grid while at port docks. By doing so, ships can use electrical energy, which can be sourced from renewable or clean sources, for dock-side needs."

Climate Resilience

Climate change is an unfortunate reality, and its effects are varied and far-reaching. According to Copernicus, the European Union's Earth Observation Programme, coastal areas tend to suffer the heaviest impacts, due to rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions.  These impacts have a direct effect on port operations. Among other challenges, ships can be prevented from docking, and high-risk activities such as crane movements can be restricted by high winds and other extreme weather events.

It’s not accidental that weather tracking technologies are evolving at a rate to match the erratic climatic changes we’re observing. Ships can now navigate using optimized routes based on real-time weather data provided by intelligent weather routing systems. This helps them avoid dangerous weather situations. Ship scheduling within a port can also be optimized using similar technologies. StormGeo offers a product that helps terminals predict weather-related difficulties like high winds so that they can plan incoming vessel slots to better manage risky activities like crane usage.

The Port of Miami was the recent beneficiary of a computer modeling and geospatial analysis study intended to model the risks of various natural disasters in order to build an effective resilience management strategy. These technologies help predict relative risks from multiple sources, allowing mitigation spending to be maximally efficient.

The Industry is Answering the Challenge

The port industry is committed to navigating the challenges it faces, and it’s already making great strides toward that end. In part two of this series, we’ll look at what the industry is facing in the future, the trends it’s following, and how automation and technology will lead the charge.

Let's delve deeper into the technological push for efficiency that drives progress in an industry faced with limited space, changing conditions, and ever-increasing demands and expectations. We’ll see how digital automation is making the difference, delivering the port of the future today.

Is your TOS meeting the needs of your terminal? Will it be able to scale as your terminal grows? We help you answer these questions and more in our TOS Decision Guide. 

5G Networks

5G, or the fifth generation of cellular network technology, is set to revolutionize more than just our mobile phone data connectivity. This updated version of the venerable cellular technology will feature prominently in efforts to create the massively-connected, data-driven ports of the future.

5G has several key features that distinguish it from the 4G LTE networks that preceded it. 5G is considerably faster than the old standard, supporting greater bandwidth for data throughput. It also supports “network slicing,” which allows the network to be divided into multiple virtual networks, each optimized to a specific purpose, creating a more flexible system than previously possible.

The “Internet of Things,” or IoT is where 5G will really make its mark on the port industry. Compared to 4G, which was capable of monitoring roughly 100,000 devices per square kilometer, 5G can track and interact with roughly a million devices. For port terminals looking to enact broad automation efforts across their entire operations, this extreme device density means significantly more granular control over port operations and data collection.

5G is also more reliable and more secure than current WiFi networks. Ports around the globe are beginning to explore applications as diverse as remotely-controlled machinery, ultra-dense data collection, and edge computing applications.

5G’s extremely low-latency and stable connection makes it ideal to realize one of the industry’s long-time dreams — remotely-controlled vehicles and machinery. Previous attempts failed because the latency, the time between when a command is issued and when it’s carried out, was too long. This didn’t allow for the precision needed for critical port systems.

to analyze how Tideworks’ Spinnaker Planning Management System® allowed for a significant increase in vessel productivity.

Ericsson and China Unicom demonstrated proof of concept at the Port of Qingdao in China. Using 5G, data from 30 video cameras and a digital control system, they successfully executed a ship-to-shore crane lift from a remote control center with millisecond precision.

As part of the E.U. project 5G-MoNArch, the Hamburg Port Authority installed 5G sensors on three ships, allowing them to collect granular motion and environmental data from a wide section of the port, monitoring and analyzing the data in real-time.

5G has the potential to create “self-aware” ports that can monitor, analyze, and act on huge volumes of connected information simultaneously.

Automated Stacking Cranes

In order for ports to achieve maximum stacking density and loading/unloading capacity, automated stacking cranes are the order of the day. Their design also makes them extremely space and resource-efficient. Using digital cameras and other automated sensors these cranes load, stack, and unload more efficiently than any other solution.

They represent the vanguard of port automation, a real-world example of where the industry is going. With limited to no human intervention, ASC systems are capable of loading and unloading containers at the fastest speeds possible, as well as achieving optimal container density. Paired with automated shuttle carriers the system can run fully-autonomously, saving money and labor while dramatically increasing safety.

The UK’s DP World London Gateway is one of the most forward-thinking ports regarding the efficient use of automation. They currently run 60 ASCs which straddle containers and stack them dockside. The ASCs also load and unload 1,800 trucks a day at their peak.

Blockchain

Blockchain, the technology that created and enabled Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is leaving the world of finance and finding applications across a wide spectrum of industries. The port industry is exploring blockchain’s potential to enhance port connectivity and data security and transparency.

Blockchain is unique in that it tracks every “transaction” that has ever occurred with perfect stability and transparency. The blockchain cannot be altered, hacked, or changed, and anyone can track the full history of the encoded data.

The immutable quality of the information means that connected systems never need to question the accuracy of the information they’re receiving. This saves time for operators and haulers, dramatically increases trust between all parties, and guarantees that needed information will always be immediately available.

The Antwerp Port Authority is making novel use of this technology in a pilot program working to increase the safety and efficiency of critical document flows.

For example, the system uses blockchain technology to transfer phytosanitary certificates. These are documents that guarantee the safety of shipped produce. Blockchain technology renders these critical documents unalterable, preventing document tampering.

If blockchain were used from the moment these phytosanitary certificates were created, port operators would enjoy full transparency of the document’s history, demonstrating with absolute certainty their accuracy and authenticity.

Smart Cameras and Computer Vision

Automation can’t function without sensors to relay critical feedback to the algorithms controlling port systems. Smart cameras paired with computer vision processing are some of the most important of these, providing automated visual data and analysis.

An anti-sway system developed by MicroView and LingZhi Image Tech Corporation from China is a good example of this sort of smart camera use. The system mounts an infrared smart camera on the trolley of a ship-to-shore crane. Using light sources on the crane’s spreaders as markers, a computer vision system analyzes images taken by the camera, using the markers to compute a real-time center point. The data is transmitted to an electronic control unit which automatically regulates the trolley’s movement to reduce container sway.

The system acts as a reliable safeguard against operator error and other unexpected situations that might otherwise create a dangerous container swing scenario.

Smart cameras can also be used for security purposes. The feeds can be monitored by human operators as well as analyzed automatically by computer vision systems looking for intruders, improper behavior, and other signs of danger. The Port of Antwerp currently uses 600 cameras to monitor every part of their operation. Other ports, like the Port of Ostend, use similar systems.

Digital Twin Technology

5G creates the network for the smart port of the future and allows for data collection on a grand scale. Digital twin technology allows port operators to exploit all of that data to run highly-detailed, 3D simulations of port activity in order to improve decision-making, solve complex problems, and allow data-driven predictive planning.

In essence, the technology maps the output from a massively-interconnected network of IoT sensors to a virtual version of the port. These sensors feed data from a myriad of real-time port activities into the simulated port, allowing the virtual copy to behave in a manner similar to the real thing.

With the simulated port, operators can run virtualized scenarios that wouldn’t be feasible in the real world, gaining valuable insight into possible and future port operations.

The Port of Rotterdam is currently planning a digital twin that will track ship movements, weather data, infrastructure movement and more to help the port realize its vision of a fully automated port by 2030. The Port of Hamburg is working on its own digital twin, with the goal of exploring novel efficiency and environmental gains.

Digital twin technology allows for unlimited experimentation using real-world data without the need for actual equipment moves and without the need for labor. It’s a virtual port laboratory, and as data quality and quantity improve so will the results of these experiments.

The Future is Now

The technology that promises rich rewards for the port industry in the future is being developed today. It’s clear where this technology is taking us, but its potential will likely surprise us all. The dream of the fully-automated port is within reach and will almost certainly be a reality in the coming decades. We need only keep applying the technology in the present.

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