The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) of Germany will fund the establishment and operation of a digital test field in the seaport of Kiel.
As part of the D-Tech-Base project, port terminals for roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) traffic will become test fields for the new 5G terminal communication and traffic control for the first time, according to a statement.
The project amounting to nearly US$1.99 million (€1.75 million), which will be in effect for two and a half years until 30 June 2024, focuses on the road, rail and ferry terminal Ostuferhafen as well as on freight and passenger terminal Schwedenkai.
The basis of the digital test field is the establishment of a 5G-campus network for fast data transmission, which is aligned with modern information and communication infrastructure.
“The 5G network forms the decisive infrastructural basis for the implementation of further digitalisation measures,” stated the head of IT at the Port of Kiel, Lars Gummels, who added that various hardware and software components will build on this to improve terminal communication and traffic control.
Furthermore, a trailer tracking system called tagless optical unit tracking will be used within the terminals, while a fleet management system, which will enable the connection and scheduling of all forklift trucks at the terminals in real-time, is also planned.
Moreover, the multimedia screens that will be installed display content such as traffic guidance information, which is imported from the gate operating system. Meanwhile, more video scanning gates for trucks and trailers will also be installed in the port’s two terminals, as part of the work package for intelligent traffic control.
Gates will be erected for rail freight traffic for the first time, while new camera systems with optical character recognition (OCR) will support the collection of information on the respective transport units.
In the area of port handling, data from the OCR systems will be compared with the terminal operating system in order to minimise distances and reduce mileage-related emissions, according to a port’s announcement.
The integration of new components with existing systems such as the internally developed warehousing software is of decisive importance for digital mapping and optimisation along the process chain, given that the Kiel Forest Products Centre handles, stores and distributes quality products from the Swedish paper industry worth about US$1.14 billion (€1 billion) per year.
In order to further enrich the D-Tech-Base project, the Port of Kiel is also involved in the Förde 5G project together with the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel and other partners to promote measures in the areas of tracking, cargo handling and IT security, through the development of IT systems on a real industrial scale.
