CMHIT is installing its TOS at Thessaloniki
Source: World Cargo News News16 Jul 2020 by Paul Avery
China Merchants Holdings (International) Information Technology Company (CMHIT), a subsidiary of China Merchants Port (CMPort), has signed a TOS contract with Thessaloniki Port Authority S.A. (ThPA).
CMHIT's TOS is called CTOS (Container Terminal Operating System) and will be installed at Thessaloniki with two standard modules for rail and straddle carrier operations. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic an online signing ceremony was held between Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Thessaloniki. During the ceremony, the General Manager of the Container Terminal of ThPA, Antonino Spezzano said: "The state-of-the-art CTOS of CMHIT, together with the semi-automated equipment that ThPA is going to install, will update the operational technologies and services of our Container Terminal and will unlock greater performance and efficiency."
CMHIT has a goal to be "the world's leading comprehensive port service provider", and said almost half of its terminal users are external customers outside the ports and terminals under the CM Group. Thessaloniki is the company's first customer in Europe, and will be "an important milestone for CMHIT to enter the IT market of Europe's port and logistics industry", said Wang Pei, the General Manager of CMHIT. Currently there are 16 terminals around the world using CTOS, including facilities in South Asia and Africa.
CMHIT offers a series of port and logistics IT solutions, including terminal and logistics park operations and management systems, such as CTOS, BTOS (bulk), and LPOS (Logistics Park Operation System), and a Port Community System - ePort. In Shenzhen, the world's fourth largest container port, CMHIT's CTOS handles almost half of the throughput.
CTOS has a modular architecture, and CMHIT has developed a series of intelligent modules, including intelligent Remote Control (iRC), intelligent Remote Tally (iRT), intelligent RTG Dispatch (iRD) to support remotely controlled and managed operations. The biggest user of the iRC module is the Chiwan Container Terminal, which CMHIT says "is a pioneer and the largest single container terminal using RTG remote control (semi-automated) in China: all of its 36 RTGs were remotely controlled as of March 2016. At the end of 2019, the container volume handled by remote control RTGs reached 2.5 million boxes".
CMHIT is also supporting a major project by CMPort to transform its Shenzhen Mawan facility into an intelligent terminal."This facility will be equipped with the most advanced technology and become the first intelligent port in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The project is scheduled for delivery at the end of 2020," CMHIT said. Mawan will be the first automated terminal using CTOS V4.5 for automated terminals.
Over in Greece, CMHIT will support ThPA S.A.'s multipurpose cargo operation, and its ambition to grow its role as a gateway to the Balkans and markets in central and eastern Europe. The port serves a hinterland of 24M people and "is the preferred Port in Greece for export cargo and the most important conventional port in the country," CMHIT said.
The centrepiece of ThPA S.A's investment plan is the expansion of its container terminal and investments in new technology. "The acquisition of the latest technology superstructure and additional investments in semi-automated terminal operations will position the Port of Thessaloniki as a port of call for deep-sea vessels, and enable it to accommodate Ultra Large Container Vessels of 24,000 TEUs capacity. This is a crucial step for the Port of Thessaloniki to develop its market in the region and to deliver satisfactory ROE," the statement concluded.
