One of the latest trends in container management in ports is a total automation concept based on a combination of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and active RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)/RTLS (Real Time Locating System) technology. An example for using total automation concept will be displayed at the port of Algeciras, Spain where shuttle carriers will be precisely located under the quay cranes and matched to containers automatically scanned by the crane OCR system. In the yard, the RFID/RTLS system will track the location and status of all shuttle carriers and containers. The port operator will also use an innovative new traffic control system, to ensure correct delivery and retrieval of containers at thirty-two (32) water and land-side automated storage crane transfer blocks. The Algeciras operation is due to become operational in April 2010. According to Oscar Pernia, Process, Systems and Innovation Team Leader for Total Terminal International Algeciras (TTI Algeciras): “TTIA Operation Model has been adapted to the local scenario in the Strait of Gibraltar, to get best performance and quality of service, and best profitability for tech applications that we will introduce; key points for this model will be queue management, cargo handling processes monitoring, full automatic yard and breakpoints resolution oriented. So we need 100% traceability in container transitions and a solution that provides the highest levels of reliability. We are committed to developing a world class automated terminal.” Total Terminal International Algeciras S.A.U. (TTI Algeciras) is the company promoted by the South Korean corporation Hanjin Shipping to build and run what will become the Port of Algeciras Bay’s third container terminal. The concession, awarded by the Port in July 2008, is located on the Phase A plot of the Isla Verde Exterior expansion area. Settled on this new location in the South of Spain, a strategic point in the Strait of Gibraltar, TTI Algeciras, a common user terminal, counts with a concession area of 300,119sqm, 57,621sqm of public maneuvering zone and two quay lines of 650 meters on the east and 550 meters on the north, with a draught of 18.5 and 17.5 meters respectively. TTI Algeciras, which will become the first semi-automatic terminal in the Mediterranean area, forecasts to initiate business activity in its container terminal by year 2010, with the aim of handling a maximum of 1.56 million TEU progressively with the start-up of the operations. The terminal will be capable of handling the latest and future generations of container vessels with a capacity up to 14,000 TEU with an equipment of 8 ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, 32 automatic stacking cranes (ASC) and 20 shuttle carriers.
Meeting the challenge
Algeciras is only one example of the urgent need of port authorities for comprehensive automation, to meet the challenge of massive container traffic. This massive traffic increases pressures on the port’s operations driving improved operation efficiency schemes. Container traffic is expected to grow. For example, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released on January 11, 2010 by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, import cargo volume at the US major retail container ports ended a nearly two-and-a-half-year streak of year-over-year declines in December and is on track to show gains through the first half of 2010.
U.S. ports handled 1.09 million TEU in November, the latest month for which actual numbers are available. That was down 8 percent from October, traditionally the busiest month of the year, and 10 percent from November 2008. The November number marked the 28th month in a row to show a decrease from the same month a year earlier. But the trend was broken in December, which was estimated at 1.08 million TEU, down slightly from November as the holiday season came to a close but a 1.7 percent increase over December 2008. Year-over-year increases are expected to continue through the remainder of Global Port Tracker’s six-month forecast range. January is forecast at 1.15 million TEU, a 9 percent increase over January 2010, and February, traditionally the slowest month of the year, is forecast at 1.05 million TEU, up 25 percent from the previous year. March is forecast at 1.16 million TEU, up 21 percent as retailers begin to stock up for spring and summer, April at 1.19 million TEU, up 20 percent, and May at 1.2 million TEU, up 15 percent.
Basic building blocks
In addition to the growing container traffic, there have been increased security requirements. These combined factors raise pressure to meet increased container traffic, hold down costs, and meet heightened security needs. To meet these challenges, the port has to implement end-to-end gate solutions that include advanced systems for port security, container handling and automatic license plate reading. This can be achieved by vision-based license plate recognition (LPR) and container code recognition (CCR) products, integrated with gate gantries and portals, laser based truck profiling systems, gate control system, pedestal control system, and damage inspection systems, among others. The basic building blocks of the automation systems for container handling and management are the vision-based CCR systems. Based on OCR technology, CCR systems enable automatic reading of container code numbers for a variety of container handling and security applications. In addition, CCR systems can be integrated with security applications such as radiation portal monitors (RPM), which screen trucks, containers and other conveyances for the presence of nuclear and radiological materials. Shipping container terminals utilising CCR systems have more efficient use of labo
ur, yard space and handling equipment, resulting in improved productivity and profitability. In order to meet fast turn times for containers at all shipping ports worldwide, tighter control over the movement of terminal assets such as containers, cranes, chassis and trucks will be necessary, and this need can be met by utilising CCR systems.
Completing the cycle
Most container terminals today implement terminal operating systems (TOS) database programs that automate the handling of all assets in the terminal, based on manual entry of container and truck numbers. As the container traffic grows and efficiency becomes more and more critical, CCR systems can help ports complete the automation cycle for these terminals, including automatic documentation of container inventory and real-time data processing, while allowing reduction of safety risks in terminals by relocating the clerks from the dangerous yard environment to off-site back offices. The experience of HTS with numerous ports worldwide shows that automatic CCR technology reduces bottlenecks to a minimum, and prevents mistakes in handling or storing wrong containers. In addition, the ability to track and verify containers and trucks automatically contributes to the port’s security, and helps identify suspicious containers. The CCR-based automatic inspection begins at the port gate, where it can be integrated with the OCR/video gate system that handles trucks and containers as they pass through various port gates, or other truck inspection stations. A CCR system can read container numbers, chassis numbers and the truck license plate numbers for each truck as it passes through a lane. For example, HTS’s SeeGate2 system reads container code number and size/type from both sides, rear and top views, as well as front and rear truck license plate, and optionally chassis number from both truck sides, and captures full (four-side) container color images for damage inspection applications. The other phase in each container’s “port lifecycle” is the quay crane. A CCR device can be crane-mounted for container handling applications. The device automatically reads and records the container ISO code number as it is handled by the crane. The crane-mounted image-capturing system represents a complex technological challenge, due to the harsh operating environment, the physical constraints of the crane, and the need to interface the CCR device with the crane PLC control system. The harsh operating environment requires the installation of rugged video high performance camera units on the crane. The updated container status must be transmitted to the crane control station. For instance, HTS’s SeeCrane reads container numbers from both sides while operation is uninterrupted by traffic into loading area. If containers are loaded off/onto a train, the CCR system will automatically read and record the container code numbers when the train enters or exits the port. For example, HTS’s SeeTrain reads container numbers from both sides, as well as from the rear, in single stack and dual stack container trains, supports bidirectional travel on rails, and can integrate with rail cars number reader. As global environmental regulations grow ever stricter, port authorities need efficient tools to control and manage hazardous materials inside the port, and while entering and leaving the port gates. CCR technology can help in this field, automatically reading hazmat (IMO) labels and placards, identifying hazmat containers for their content.
CCR is becoming an ever more integral part of modern terminal operations, enabling greater automation and high security. As global container traffic becomes more and more extensive, it seems that use of CCR technology will expand in the years to come.