The port of Antwerp has around 120.6 km of quay walls and 7,000 mooring posts and bollards to which the ships' ropes are attached when docking. This prevents the ships from moving during loading and unloading. In windy or stormy conditions, however, the ropes of large seagoing vessels exert an enormous tensile force on the mooring posts and bollards, whereby bollards with their bolt or anchor connections are more sensitive than mooring posts. If such a bollard with its 650 kg of steel were to come loose, there would be a risk of a ship drifting away or people being injured. Regular inspection and maintenance is therefore essential.

Digital solution increases security

In order to measure the tension in the bolted connection of bollards and issue a warning if a bollard becomes loose or threatens to break, the Port of Antwerp launched a call in 2020 to develop a digital system for this purpose. The "Bollard Monitor" from Brussels-based technology company Zensor was chosen as the winner from the five submissions. It consists of two built-in sensors that measure the voltage and voltage fluctuations on the mounting system. Every 15 minutes, the system sends the permanently recorded information via a wireless connection and displays it visually on a dashboard. This data helps the operational service to optimize the preventive maintenance of the bollards.

Tom Cornelissen, Sales Manager Zensor: "Zensor makes the bollards in the port of Antwerp intelligent. Instead of on-site inspections, the sensors automatically and immediately indicate when the bollard connections are overloaded. The Port of Antwerp's technical services can view the actual load on the bollards live via the Zensor online platform. The system sends out an alarm if a bolt comes loose. This is not only much more efficient for maintenance, but also increases safety. The measurement data from the bollards is linked to the port authority's operational data. The intelligent processing of this combined data provides additional insight and context about the load on the bollards."

Erwin Verstraelen, Chief Digital Information & Innovation Officer of the Port of Antwerp: "As part of our vision to place a digital nervous system over the physical port, we have installed sensors on a number of bollards. We want to use them to measure the impact of large tensile forces, which will help us to plan maintenance more efficiently. A great example of how we use innovation and partnerships to increase safety in our port."

Annick De Ridder, Harbour Master: "With this piece of innovation, we are not only making our port safer and more efficient, but we can also be an inspiration for other ports. By repeatedly using our port as a testing ground for technological innovations, we continue to play a pioneering role here."