Container terminals project financing are an essential element of the future global intermodal transport system.

Over the past decades, the number of containers transported around the world has increased every year, reaching an impressive 802 million TEU in 2019.

The share of containers in the maritime transport market is also growing steadily.

Modern seaports act as key hubs for international trade, and international agencies are increasingly focusing on the financing and construction of marine container terminals, especially in terms of efficiency, innovation and expansion of the global network.

Currently, the largest container terminals are located in East Asia, mainly in China. However, companies around the world are interested in the construction, modernization and expansion of these facilities. For this reason, CPUKFINANCE engineering services are in great demand in the Middle East, Europe, USA, North Africa, Latin America and other regions of the world.

Since its inception, containerization has remained one of the most important ways to consolidate and transport cargo.

Containerization helps to pack a consignment into a separate compact unit while maintaining shape, size and weight during transportation, handling and storage, that is, during the entire transport cycle.

Today, container terminal operators have to take into account the rationalization and reorganization taking place in different parts of the transport chain and having a direct impact on their activities. Engineering design of a container terminal every time becomes a serious challenge for contractors, requiring an innovative and individual approach to the project.

The goal of our engineering team remains unchanged.

We strive to increase the efficiency of loading and unloading operations, ensuring the reliability and stability of terminals without excessive financial costs.

This requires not only the use of TOS, large automated gantry cranes and AGVs, but also the introduction of innovative logistics models.

CP Finance UK FINANCE LIMITED is also ready to offer you long-term project financing for the construction of seaports and container terminals on favorable terms with the involvement of large private investors, venture funds and leading European banks.

Financing the automation and modernization of marine container terminals

The degree of automation of container handling is a determining factor in the development of modern seaports.

This indicator is important for achieving high efficiency in international trade.

The modernization of container terminals is aimed at the following:

• Reducing the time of unloading and loading the ship with container cranes.

• Improving the efficiency of road and rail transport infrastructure, which is responsible for the movement of goods within the port and their shipment to customers.

• Increase in labor productivity of container terminal employees, determined by the number of containers handled per employee.

• Gradual reduction of energy consumption by 1 TEU.

To achieve these goals, CPUKFINANCE offers a wide range of engineering solutions.

First, the terminal must be equipped with cranes that can efficiently handle ships of all sizes.

Secondly, modern container terminals are equipped with reliable automated systems that carry out fast and accurate loading and unloading operations with minimal human intervention.

Finally, we and our partners offer operators the latest automated equipment to integrate all cargo handling processes.

TOS (Terminal Operating System) play a key role in increasing the competitiveness of container terminals.

These are universal IT systems that ensure the continuity, high speed and safety of container handling.

Innovative integrated control systems ensure fast reloading, and modern sensors ensure greater accuracy in any transport task, eliminating equipment downtime. The main advantage of TOS is the fast flow of information, which allows control center operators to support the decision-making process for maintaining the technical condition of port facilities and monitoring logistics processes.

Thanks to advanced solutions in the field of automation, the process of unloading a ship is fundamentally different from what it was known 20-25 years ago.

Automated loading and unloading operations are as follows:

• The operator in the crane cab uses computer systems to locate the container on the ship, pick it up, and then the container is automatically sent to the delivery line, where it is loaded into an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle).

• AGV delivers the container to the site for an automatic crane, which places the container at a predetermined location.

• The whole operation is controlled by the advanced terminal operating system TOS, which eliminates accidental errors and streamlines the process.

• Containers stored in stacks are loaded onto tractors in a semi-automatic mode, or they are automatically sent to AGV, which transports them to the railway platform.

In major European seaports such as Rotterdam, container terminal automation started earlier than others.

This practice has been shown to be highly effective, resulting in increased loading and unloading speeds while reducing the number of dock workers. The modernization of container terminals around the world is moving towards universal automation and computerization.

For example, in 2017, the Qingdao port was the first in Asia to acquire an automated container terminal QQCTN, which significantly increased the port’s handling capacity and provided multi-million dollar savings.

The experience of operating such systems shows that the need for personnel can be reduced by 70% or more while increasing the speed and safety.

Moreover, a computerized container positioning system and a scanning laser ensure that the container terminal operates smoothly in the dark.