DP World has implemented a remote pinning station at its Southampton hub in the United Kingdom, the first of its type in the world, which will increase safety and productivity during a critical stage of port operations.
‘Pinning’ is the process of manually placing a twistlock into the corner casting of a container to keep it in place during a journey at sea.
For the past 50 years, twistlocks were put in and taken out on the quayside, directly underneath container-bearing cranes, a hazardous environment where heavy machinery and people operate in close proximity.
The new remote pinning station at DP World Southampton is the first at any straddle carrier port in the world. The station is the size of two football pitches and is set 150 yards from the quay to further protect workers. The remote model enables the straddle carriers, which move containers handled by the quay cranes, to take each one from berth to pinning station.
DP Word’s goal is to transport 35 containers per hour. Earlier this year, the Southampton hub set two consecutive records for container handling.
In April, the team recorded 9,416 container moves from the Hapag-Lloyd vessel Al Nefud in just 88 hours. This was made feasible by a new operational model that allowed staff to concentrate more cranes on the vessel while still serving other clients.
