Ningbo-Zhoushan Port aims to be built into world-class smart port

As the world's busiest port in terms of cargo tonnage for over ten years, the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in east China's Zhejiang Province is being built into a world-class smart port.

The Ningbo-Zhoushan Port handled more than 1.2 billion tons of cargo in 2020, topping worldwide port volumes for the 12th straight year.

"This is the largest port in the world, and we have been number one in terms of cargo handling capacity for 12 years in a row. We are the most popular port for 100,000-tonne class ships. We have more than 100 shipping berths for 50,000-tonne ships," said Jiang Wei, secretary of Board of Directors with Ningbo Zhoushan Port.

Becoming a smart port is an important direction of future port development. The world-class port should have first-class facilities, first-class technology and first-class management, according to Jian.

To build first-class facilities, the Xiangshan Port area has upgraded its entire operating system that used to rely on imported technology, and has now deployed independently developed tech since last October.

To develop first-class technology, the Meishan Port area has applied unmanned quay cranes, unmanned gantry cranes and unmanned cargo handling with good results so far.

Traditional cranes request on-site operations, but the Meishan Port has half of its gantry cranes now remotely controlled thanks to 5G technology, which will greatly improve the efficiency of the entire port.

Starting last year, the Meishan Port began to deploy 5G technology as well as high-precision positioning technologies to transfer the existing trucks into self-driving ones, which greatly raised efficiency and lowered labor costs.

"We are going to determine the position of the containers by looking at these 6 screens through 19 cameras. We use these two game-console-like handles to operate our loading and unloading. I think with smart remote control operation, it is a lot more accurate and much safer," said Wu Qifei, supervisor for quay crane operations of the Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal.

Wu recalled the harsh working environment of the past. They had to work at an altitude of more than 40 meters, bent backs and bowed heads for long periods, but now, the working environment for the drivers has been greatly improved due to the smart operating system.

"We now have 36 cranes, and 18 of which are remotely operated. Our goal is to achieve remote control operations for all quay cranes," said Wu.

From a management perspective, Jiang said that this area can be further improved upon. A management platform is being built to coordinate several important ports in Zhejiang Province, including Ningbo, Zhoushan, Jiaxing, Wenzhou, Taizhou and so on.