More news | The "technological model" of Rizhao Port's fully automated container terminal

On the afternoon of the 22nd, General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Rizhao City, Shandong Province. He came to Rizhao Port to learn about the local situation of promoting the intelligent and green construction of the port and expanding its opening to the outside world.

The sea breeze blows and the waves roll. In the vast sky and sea, remote-controlled quay cranes are lined up, containers rise and fall, and driverless container trucks shuttle back and forth... Looking from afar at the fully automated container terminal of Rizhao Port, it looks busy, but there is little work. Figures of personnel.

The container terminal of Rizhao Port in Shandong Port taken on January 10, 2024. Photo by reporter Guo Xulei

Since its completion and opening on October 9, 2021, this world's leading open, fully automated container terminal along the coast has a number of innovative technologies and set a series of records: the average efficiency of a single machine has increased by 50%, and the maximum efficiency of a single machine has reached 58 natural times per hour. container, the comprehensive cost of the terminal is reduced by 70%.

Behind the efficiency improvement is leading technological strength.

At present, the world's mainstream fully automated container terminals mostly adopt a vertical layout model. Rizhao Port turned "differences" into "advantages" and proposed a construction plan for an open, fully automated container terminal along the coast, transforming and upgrading traditional terminals into fully automated container terminals. It also successfully solved the problem that unmanned truck collection operations usually require the supervision of "safety officers" Solve the problem and realize that the automated rail crane has "less travel" and the collection truck can "move freely" in the yard.

This is the Rizhao Port Pier taken recently. Photo by reporter Xie Huanchi

"Traditional equipment operation requires a single person to work with his head down for a long time, and he has to climb up and down the equipment 20 meters every day; now, we can control the automated rail crane on the remote console. The working environment is better, the intensity is reduced, and the production efficiency is also improved. "Significant improvement." When talking about the changes brought about by the terminal's transformation and upgrading, the staff were deeply touched.

The innovation of the terminal is a microcosm of the "butterfly change" of the port.

This is the Rizhao Port Pier taken recently. Photo by reporter Yin Bogu

Adhering to smart empowerment and innovation-driven development, the transformation and development of Rizhao Port has continued to reach a new level. It has become a 500-million-ton port, with annual throughput ranking among the top coastal ports in the country. It has become a global supply chain hub for bulk raw materials, energy, food, etc., and also a hub for my country's national supply chain. Coastal container domestic trade hub port.

In 2023, Rizhao Port’s container throughput will increase by 7.9% year-on-year. In the first four months of this year, the throughput of Rizhao Port’s fully automated container terminal increased by 15% year-on-year.

With the blessing of new technologies, today's Rizhao Port is constantly "evolving", becoming greener and smarter, and becoming an important support for managing the ocean and strengthening the sea.

Vision|Co-produced by Domestic and Shandong Branch