New and very much larger container vessels have recently been introduced on the world’s main shipping routes to increase efficiency and to bring down costs.

This requires faster unloading at ports, but even with new larger cranes the bigger ships cannot be unloaded any quicker because their greater width means having to travel faster just to unload at the same speed as before.  Also, the container yard arrangements are often swamped by the rate of crane operation to deal with the sudden deluge of containers.

Ports have simply grown by evolution into much larger versions of the same concept and have now been left behind in the challenge to provide a more efficient, faster and more environmentally friendly link in the supply chain.

Download a copy of Gordon Rankine’s PIANC2018 paper here.

Download a copy of KONECRANES’ Port Technology article here.