AsiaPorts and Logistics

Busan to install high-bay container storage system

DP World has announced the first commercial use of its BOXBAY high-bay storage system at its terminal in Busan, South Korea.

A contract was signed between Pusan Newport Corporation (PNC) and Boxbay FZCO – a joint venture of DP World and German plant technology supplier, SMS group – initiating the design and engineering works for the site.

DP World developed BOXBAY in a joint venture with SMS, who originally created the storage system to handle heavy metal coils. Having proven the technology in the metals industry, it was refined for port logistics. DP World and SMS built a pilot facility at Jebel Ali’s Terminal-4 in January 2021. By the end of June 2022, 190,000 container movements had been carried out under realistic operating conditions to verify the market maturity of the system.

The BOXBAY high-bay storage technology will be integrated in Busan along with the existing mode of ARMG/truck operations as a retrofit on an existing empty storage area. The system allows direct access to each container at any time, eliminating 350,000 unproductive moves per year, BOXBAY claims. This will improve the overall truck servicing time by 20%.

BOXBAY is fully automated with additional safety features built in. DP World also intends to power it by using solar power, generated by photovoltaic panels on the roof of the storage system.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World, said: “If we were to imagine the future of trade, this is where it begins. We have taken a technology that has proven its effectiveness in the metals industry in Germany and further transformed it to create BOXBAY, an innovative container storage system to enhance global trade. Our pilot scheme in Jebel Ali has already shown the advantages of a fully automated, sustainably powered high-bay storage system.”

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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