Duisport, the world's largest inland port, is taking the next step on the way to becoming the digital port of the future: while the use of optical character recognition (OCR) gates has already been implemented on the rail and road sides of the Port of Duisburg, there was previously no solution on the water side. Together with Vitronic, a company for industrial image processing, Duisport developed a "Rivergate" based on high-resolution 12K cameras in just 15 months and successfully tested it on two cranes.

This solution digitally records the container ID during loading and unloading of an inland vessel within a few seconds and compares it with the loading list. The recognition rate is said to be "almost 100 percent". In combination with the Crane Management System (CMS) from Polo Know-how, this makes it possible to avoid incorrect loading, as the spreader can no longer be unlocked in the event of a so-called misspick. At the same time, the system can detect the integrity of the customs seal and any damage to the container. This will optimize existing processes in day-to-day operations and further advance the digitalization of the inland port. Rivergate will initially be used on a crane at the Duisburg Trimodal Terminal (D3T) in Duisburg-Rheinhausen and on a crane at the GWW terminal in Duisburg-Hochfeld.

Detection in any weather and at any time of day

The installation of the specially developed camera systems enables efficient and transparent condition documentation and recording in real time - even at night and in poor weather conditions. As the container passes the crane bridge, the system records the condition of the loading unit in high-resolution images. Several specially developed algorithms work in the background, providing the data immediately to the CMS and the Terminal Operation System (TOS). In this way, the matched container number can prevent incorrect loading. Rivergate not only enables important process optimization, but is also a further milestone in the digitalization of the Port of Duisburg - an added value for Duisport and the entire customer and partner network of the central logistics hub in the heart of Europe. Thanks to Rivergate, the condition of containers can be verified and their stay at the terminal can be documented seamlessly.