Conference Agenda

The ongoing shift toward containerization and the continuous increase in vessel sizes place growing demands on the design and dimensioning of container terminals. Worldwide, most container terminals use yard cranes to stack containers in the yard. The most common type are Rubber-Tired Gantry Cranes (RTGs) due to their flexible deployment within the yard and the comparatively high stacking density. Despite their widespread use, empirical knowledge on regional differences in RTG model preferences and storage block designs remains limited.

This study addresses this research gap by first providing an overview of the most frequently used container stacking equipment types in the Top 100 container ports worldwide using satellite imagery from Google Earth Pro. The results reveal significant regional disparities: While RTGs are used most frequently worldwide, rail-mounted gantry cranes and straddle carriers are also quite frequently used, especially in Northern Europe and North America, followed by specialized container stacking solutions and a combination of several equipment types. This context is essential for interpreting the subsequent analysis of design parameters.
In the next stage, it is investigated whether overarching design principles for RTG-based container terminals can be identified. The analysis is based on a comprehensive dataset of RTG-dominated container terminals across all nine global regions. The data collection relies on systematic measurements using Google Earth Pro and is complemented by vessel data from MarineTraffic to examine potential relationships between terminal design and vessel sizes. For each terminal, key parameters such as block lengths, crane spans, lifting heights, terminal sizes, and the lengths of calling vessels are collected and consolidated into comparable metrics. The findings indicate that, despite these regional differences, consistent and globally prevalent patterns exist in the dimensioning of RTG terminals, particularly regarding block lengths and crane spans. These patterns suggest the presence of established design principles that extend beyond individual regions. At the same time, no direct relationship can be identified between vessel size and block length. Instead, stable ratio-based relationships between these variables emerge, pointing to a relative scaling logic in terminal design.

Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the global design logic of RTG terminals and provides an empirical basis for planning, benchmarking, and optimization in terminal management. It also highlights the limitations of simplified planning assumptions and identifies avenues for further research, particularly regarding the integration of throughput and capacity-related metrics.

Twistlocks are mechanical locking devices to secure containers on vessels. They must be removed and installed during loading and unloading operations. Despite increasing automation in container terminals, twistlock handling is still done manually during port operations. The activity is time-consuming and poses significant occupational safety risks. Despite the obvious advantages that automated twistlock handling (ATS) promise, there are no comprehensive studies of ATS. As a result, twistlock handling remains a manual activity in the otherwise already highly automated functional area of waterside handling processes at container terminals. The paper is a part of the SIM-TWIST project (Project number: 19H24006B) funded by Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) of Germany under IHATECH from Jan, 2025 till Dec, 2026.

This paper addresses the need for a systematic assessment of automated twistlock handling technologies at container terminals. First, an overview of existing and emerging approaches for automated twistlock handling systems is provided. Based on this overview, a classification scheme for ATS is developed. As a result, four ATS scenarios are derived based on the application area: On the crane ATS, under the crane ATS, drive-through ATS, and ATS in dedicated operation zones.

Second, the paper analyses how the application of ATS influences the terminal operations, specially on the waterside container handling process. It highlights the impacts of identified ATS technologies on the process cycle times through the synchronisation of crane and horizontal transport configurations, mapping different terminal design concepts, with the objective of improving productivity, a key performance indicator of the container terminals. Furthermore, different ATS scenarios place different demands on process design and resources. For example, regarding transport processes, transport capacities, quay crane capacities, and area capacities. These differences directly affect the entire port performance such as vessel turnaround times, terminal throughput and crane productivity.

As a result, the paper shows that discrete-event simulation is suitable for evaluating and quantifying the influence of ATS on terminal processes and for comparing different ATS scenarios. In this context, the paper presents a basic concept for developing a simulation environment for container terminal operations, including automated twistlock handling. The simulation environment focuses on processes required for vessel handling, including container storage and transportation, twistlock handling operations, and loading resp. unloading of vessels by crane. The environment allows simulation and comparison of the ATS scenarios mentioned above.

Passenger crowding in urban rail networks creates severe operational challenges and safety risks for transit stations, often causing platform overcrowding and train delays. These crowding issues are most critical at major transfer stations where crossing pedestrian flows disrupt the movement of passengers. At these locations, a large number of passengers get off trains while bi-directional escalators continuously move people from lower platform to the upper platform. This creates a major conflict point between passengers entering the platform and those trying to use the escalators. To reduce these conflicts and improve passenger flow, this study evaluates different physical barrier layouts near escalators in the peak hours. Physical barriers play an important role in guiding pedestrian movement and organizing queues, but how the layout of these barriers affect passenger movement has not been widely studied.

This research develops a pedestrian model of BTS Siam Station, one of the busiest interchange stations in the Bangkok Mass Transit System network, by using PTV VISSIM pedestrian simulation. Seven distinct physical barrier layouts applicable to escalator entry zones are designed and comparatively analyzed under peak-hour operational conditions. This research evaluates passenger density for each physical barrier layout to determine which configuration performs the best. The study further validates simulation outcomes through real-world observation of passenger behavior at BTS Siam Station, establishing the practical applicability of the proposed design interventions.

Results demonstrate that barrier configuration significantly influences passenger distribution, queue organization, and boarding efficiency at escalator interfaces. The findings identify that center long openside is the optimal barrier configuration, which successfully reduces maximum passenger density in the upper platform by 18.27% and reduces average density by 22.08% compared to the current baseline, effectively mitigating crowd accumulation while maintaining orderly and safe boarding behavior. This research shows how modifications to physical barrier configurations can improve pedestrian flow in high-demand urban rail systems. The study also highlights the value of simulation-based approaches for evaluating and optimizing pedestrian infrastructure before physical implementation.