DP World reports it has completed assembly of a ‘Proof of Concept’ test section of the world's first container High Bay Store System (HBS) at Jebel Ali Port in the UAE.
Dubbed ‘BoxBay’, the automated handling system stacks containers up to 11 stories high in a fixed rack framework and has been developed as a joint venture by DP World and SMS engineering group of Germany.
Trial operations on the test section, which contains 792 container slots, are due to start at Jebel Ali before September.
Installation of the test section was completed when an automated truck handling crane was assembled on site this week. Eventually it is planned that containers will also move in and out of BoxBay on underground conveyor belts before being lifted to their slot in the rack by stacker cranes.
A complete HBS yard able to handle more than three million containers a year is planned for Jebel Ali Terminal 4, currently under construction.
"This is a major milestone delivered in our exploration of new and innovative technologies that add value for our operations and customers,” commented Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group chairman and ceo of DP World, on completion of the test section.
“With speed, efficiency and digital fitness being key aspects of the port and terminal business, we intend to deliver 'life inventory' to our importers and we are confident BoxBay will play a significant role revolutionising container storage in the years ahead.”
Mathias Dobner, chairman and ceo of BoxBay, added that the electrified system’s CO2-neutral operation powered by roof-mounted solar panels was “trend-settingˮ and also would allow more capacity to be managed “faster on the same footprint.”
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