Thursday, August 12, 2010

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New “semi” automated Hanjin terminal opens in Gibraltar

What is claimed to be the first “semi” –automated terminal in the Mediterranean is Hanjin’s newly opened TTI Algeciras facility on the Strait of Gibraltar, according to the technology partnership of Identec Solutions and Hi-Tech Solutions Europe (HTS-E).

The two tech companies announced they have deployed active RFID and GPS based technologies for a container crane’s real time locating system (RTLS) and automated transfer point management (TPM) system in the automated storage areas.

“TTI Algeciras was designed to immediately accommodate a maximum of 1.6 million TEUs progressively with the commencement of operations,” said Oscar Pernia, processes systems and innovation team leader for TTI Algeciras.

“Deploying a Real Time Locating System that featured both active RFID and GPS technologies was essential for our terminal’s immediate and long-term objectives,” Pernia said.

The terminal is owned by South Korea’s Hanjin Group and reportedly represents the largest single investment ever made by a South Korean company in Spain.

The RTLS solution, according to its developers: “combines intelligent active RFID tags along with an advanced RTLS positioning and visibility system that determines the exact location of shuttle vehicles under eight ship to shore (STS) cranes.”

The companies said the shuttles discharge or pick-up containers under the STS cranes whereby the shuttle ID and exact position are determined by RTLS then matched to the container ID that is captured by an OCR system mounted on the STS cranes.

Once the shuttle leaves the crane area, tracking of the equipment transitions to differential GPS, which allows the containers to be managed and monitored.

Algeciras uses 32 automated rail mounted gantries to store and retrieve containers. At both the waterside and landside transfer points, tags on the base of the shuttle vehicles are used to confirm the absolute position of shuttles as they enter the transfer point zones.

That information is sent to the RMG control system providing what the tech companies claim to be “100 percent traceability in container transitions.”

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