This article was published in July/August 2010 issue of World Port Development. To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Automatic Choice

The need for automation in container terminals continues with the launch of a new generation of automated guided vehicles (AGVs). Based on equipment from the ro-ro industry the cassette AGV will avoid bottlenecks in container handling operations. Laurence Henesey, Business Development Manager - R&D from TTS Port Equipment, Sweden, explains.

At the beginning of the 1990s, Europe Container Terminals (ECT) in Rotterdam was the first to adopt an automated t

This article was published in June 2010 issue of World Port Development. To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Clawing their back to normal

In the world of bulk materials handling, stacker-reclaimers are the giants and they don't come cheap writes Ray Dykes...

Looking like super praying mantis they earn their keep by stacking or reclaiming coal, iron ore, copper, cement, or other bulk materials with ease and precision and at rates peaking up to 8,000 tonnes per hour or more. But the rapid movement of materials comes as at price, sometimes as high at USD25 million per single machine.

This article was published in June 2010 issue of World Port Development. To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Strike while the iron is hot

During the global economic downturn many operators have taken the chance to update their Terminal Operating System software while their terminal lay almost dormant. Of course, this move has been welcomed by many software companies as World Port Development reports...

This article was published in June 2010 issue of World Port Development. To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Weighty Issue

The loading of over-weight containers not only affects ship stability and safe stowage on-board, it can also create major problems for the terminal operators. Peter van Schie reports on this weighty issue...

Throughout the years more and more goods are transported in containers – including free flowing bulk material - and although the party stuffing the container is responsible for ensuring that the gross mass of the container is in accordance with the gross mass given on the shipping documents this has not always been the case.