The fourth phase of Guangzhou Port's Nansha area was put into operation on July 28, making it the first fully-automated container terminal in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The container cranes accurately grab the containers from the ship and then place them on the IGV (Intelligent Guided Vehicle) as per instruction made by the central information system.

(Photo: he fourth phase of Guangzhou Port's Nansha area)

The routes of the IGV are planned through intelligent algorithms. Then railway cranes align themselves and move the containers to the designated location. The whole process is driven smoothly by a remote automatic operating system.

Li Yibo, Head of Guangzhou Port Group, said that the operation of Nansha Port's fourth phase automated terminal enhances Nansha's capacity of international shipping and logistics, which promotes the cooperation in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and furthers the opening-up.

Nansha Port's fourth phase terminal has four 100,000-ton marine berths with a total annual handling capacity of 4.9 million TEUs, according to He Yeke, General Manager of the Nansha Port's fourth phase.

"The automated terminal saves about 70 percent of manpower and guarantees a higher level of safety for production," said He.

Lionel M. Ni, President of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), said that Nansha Port's fourth phase integrates advanced technologies such as new-generation IoT sensing, big data analysis and artificial intelligence.

"It will achieve zero emissions, which is expected to provide a model solution for the upgrade of traditional ports worldwide," said Ni.