Cargotec looks to 2060 and imagines artificial island terminals

AFTER the 50 years of containerisation, Finland's Cargotec is imagining the future and what the port and harbour world might look like after a full century of container shipping.


Inviting "out of the box thinking", Cargotec employees imagined that by the year 2060, mega ports would be offshore on artificial islands where layout can be optimised. Floating feeder/river terminals that can be moved around in line with changing demands will support such ports.


The container itself will remain in use, based on the same compact, standard format. But different materials might be used, while containers could be foldable and may have inbuilt intelligence to communicate destination, contents and journey details.


The company wanted the session to spark discussion within the terminal operations sector and to try and anticipate the challenges and solutions that will be relevant to containerisation as it approaches its centenary.


Called Port 2060, the project was devised so the company could use TOC Europe 2011, which is currently underway in Antwerp, to launch a possible vision of the future. Port 2060 aims to develop the process and ideas that will underpin containerisation in 50 years time.


According to Ismo Matinlauri, Cargotec's senior vice president, port cranes: "With the cargo handling market on the upswing we felt it was time for us to consider the future for a while and do some long term thinking. This exercise is part of our ongoing drive to enhance our customers' operational performance, as we believe now is the time to start preparing for the future together."


By around 2060, the world will be celebrating the centenary of containerisation. Cargotec's Port 2060 vision suggests that over the next few decades cargo handling technology will keep evolving and take different forms. And yet containers will keep moving cargo around the world.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)