Desktop research into historic automation projects of brownfield container terminals

Container traffic worldwide has shown a growing trend during the last years. Also, the number of containers handled per call has increased for many terminals. This poses challenges to existing terminals for more efficient operations and higher productivity. Automation is a way some terminals have tried to achieve this. Most existing automated container terminals were greenfield projects, but brownfield automation is gaining momentum. Literature on brownfield automation of container terminals is limited. The PIANC MarCom WG Report n° 208 – 2021, Planning for Automation of Container Terminals is the most recent and complete guideline for automation projects, but it is mainly focused on greenfield projects. Challenges for automating brownfield terminals are different than for greenfield ones. All of this translates into little guidance being available for future brownfield automation projects. Therefore, the experiences and lessons learnt from historical brownfield automation of container terminals are a valuable source of information to guide future projects. The aim of this thesis is then to present a characterisation of historic container terminals converted, or in the process of being converted, to some degree of automated operations. An empirical research methodology was defined to gather data on drivers for automation, challenges, observed benefits, drawbacks, and solutions adopted by brownfield automated terminals. A questionnaire was used for this purpose. Also, satellite images of the conversion process were analysed to observe implementation strategies. Additionally, terminal throughput, equipment, yard size and quay length were determined through a desk study. Data was analysed through categorization. Trends regarding the type of automation, i.e., semi-automation (automated yard equipment) or full automation (automated yard + automated transport between the stacks and the quay), and regarding the type of yard equipment adopted were determined. F
Civil Engineering