Two fully automated rail-mounted cranes manufactured by Qingdao Port Machinery Branch of Equipment Manufacturing Group arrived at the Weihai Qingwei Container Terminal on Nov 26, according to local officials. 

They said it marked the start of construction of the automated container terminal at Weihai Port -- operated by Shandong Port Group, or SPG -- as well as the arrival of the smart port era in Weihai, the prefecture-level city and major seaport located in East China's Shandong province.

Having an automated terminal is an important milestone in the development of a smart port.

Officials said that with Weihai Port well on its way to achieving annual throughput handling capacity of 1 million TEUs -- or twenty-foot equivalent units -- an automated container terminal featuring high efficiency, a small workforce and safer production has become the defining trend for port developments.

The two "4133 model" fully automated rail cranes have a wide base and a maximum hoisting capacity of 41 tons, showing more stable equipment performance.

Using optical fiber communications, the two cranes have an all-round visualized surveillance system and a positioning system. Compared with the present equipment at Weihai Port, their data transmission speed and counter-jamming performance is much stronger.

"These two fully automated rail cranes were the first batch to arrive and there will be another three cranes to come," said Xue Qiang, deputy general manager of Weihai Qingwei Container Terminal.

Xue added that work previously requiring five skilled workers to operate five cranes could now easily done by only one operator sitting in the control room, maneuvering five automated sets of equipment simultaneously.

The advantages of the automated rail crane are not only reduced manpower costs, but also improved on-site safety, especially during the current novel coronavirus pandemic.

Officials said the Weihai Qingwei Container Terminal will have earth-shaking changes with the arrival of smart technology. 

They said the employment of five automatic rail cranes will improve container handling efficiency by over 20 percent, expand the yard's container storage capacity by 20 percent and enlarge the volume of containers in storage by over 50,000 TEUs.

With Weihai Port's Berth No 16, a 50,000-ton container terminal, put into operation and the stacking yard to be expanded next year, the port's container throughput will increase by 100,000 TEUs.

In the future -- in line with SPG's development blueprint for integrated reforms, port planning and construction -- Weihai Port will transform from a conventional terminal into an automated one.

Officials said greater efforts will be made to help SPG build internationally advanced smart and green ports and construct world-class seaports.