Technical Papers

Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) is the world’s largest bulk export port authority, responsible for the ports of Ashburton, Dampier, Port Hedland and Varanus Island. The already large remit is set to expand in the future as four Shipping and Pilotage Act 1967 ports are transferred, and five greenfield ports in the region are developed.

Located in Brazil’s southernmost seaport, Rio Grande Container Terminal has repeatedly demonstrated a forward looking approach to technology since opening its gates in 1997. Known as Tecon Rio Grande, the operation has earned a reputation as a high-productivity facility connected by water, road and rail, with a capacity of 1.42 million TEU.

The intermodal industry is constantly on the lookout for new solutions to make operations more sustainable. For terminal operators, it is vital to reach their sustainability goals and at the same time improve their performance and cost-efficiency. With new approaches, a fully electric power supply for container handling equipment can be achieved, also in exceptional cases where it was not possible before.

There is a push in nearly all developed countries to move containerised cargo off roads and onto rail. This modal shift from road to rail is fueled by industry, consumer, political, and social pressures. While this is arguably a good outcome for nearly all stakeholders, at least one player, our intermodal terminal operators, are being moved into a direction where their operations must evolve to adapt to the increased volumes they are seeing today and that are being incentivised in the near future.

On 7 February 2023, MSC Belgium introduced ID-based container pick-up, at MSC PSA European Terminal (MPET) in Antwerp. This is a critical step for the future of cargo shipping – not just because it makes the process more efficient. The technology protects not only the security of the overall container, but the cargo inside, as well as the security of all personnel interacting with the containers.

Nine of the top 10 ocean carriers’ recent commitment to a fully standardised, electronic bill of lading (eBL) by 2030 is a significant step towards fully digitalising container shipping processes. Digitalisation is important for many reasons, not least because it builds resilience into global trade’s complex supply chains. It enables more accurate and timely information to be rapidly and seamlessly exchanged so that all stakeholders can have true visibility into the whereabouts of goods as they make their way across supply chains.

At a recent joint symposium organised with the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) and BIMCO, and hosted by International Maritime Organization (IMO) to mark one year until it is mandatory for ports in Member States to operate Maritime Single Windows (MSWs) for the electronic exchange of information, a senior development official commented: “Given the importance, one is a little surprised at the lack of progress”. Observers might suggest that, as with so much over the last few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed work on reaching this goal but in many cases, in fact, rather than involuntarily applying the brakes, the urgent need to reduce human contact caused by the pandemic became an unexpected driver towards digitalisation.