Global port operator DP World has announced that it will install its high-tech BOXBAY high-bay storage system at its container terminal in Pusan, South Korea. This will be the first commercial installation of BOXBAY, a cutting-edge, fully automated High Bay Storage (HBS) system developed by DP World and industrial engineering experts, SMS Group, through their joint venture Boxbay FZCO. The system will allow for the storage and retrieval of containers from bays up to eleven stories high, which will maximize space, increase handling speed, energy efficiency, and safety while reducing operating costs.
DP World's Pusan Newport Corporation (PNC), in which the company holds a 66% stake, signed an agreement with Boxbay FZCO on March 8 for the initial design and engineering works for the site at the Pusan terminal. The BOXBAY system will be integrated with the existing mode of Automated Rail Mounted Gantry Cranes (ARMG) and truck operations, and it will be retrofitted onto an existing empty storage area. The fully automated storage system will be capable of handling up to 350,000 moves per year, providing direct access to containers, and improving truck servicing time by 20%. DP World plans to power the BOXBAY system using solar panels installed on the roof of the system.
BOXBAY was first used for handling heavy metal coils in the metals industry, and DP World and SMS Group further refined the technology for container storage. A pilot facility was built at Jebel Ali’s Terminal-4 in January 2021 and carried out 190,000 container movements under real-world operating conditions through June 2022, verifying the system's market maturity.
"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," said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World. "Our pilot scheme in Jebel Ali has already shown the advantages of a fully automated, sustainably powered high-bay storage system. I'm proud that DP World has led this innovation that will now be adopted in Pusan. The technology reflects our continuous efforts to embrace technologies that enhance the flow of trade and further enhances Dubai's position as a global leader in the ports and logistics industry."
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