Port work

According to the Nippon Kaiji Center, as of 2019, shipping accounts for a whopping 99.6%^[1] of Japan's trade (in terms of weight). Improving the efficiency of shipping operations at ports, which are the key to Japan's trade, is very important for the maintenance and development of the social and economic infrastructure.

Remote control of container loading and unloading

Containers loaded on ships entering the port are lowered onto land by a huge crane. The operator's seat of the crane is several dozen meters above the ground, and the crane grabs the containers loaded on the ship and unloads them like a UFO catcher. Currently, remote control of this loading and unloading process is being introduced at major ports around the world. In order to transport containers weighing several tons to several tens of tons by remote control as quickly, accurately, and safely as possible, it is necessary to attach multiple cameras to the crane and transmit detailed images from various angles from the crane to the operation room without any time lag.

In addition to remote operation of cranes, ultra-high speed and low latency 5G is expected to be used for automatic operation of vehicles carrying containers and for monitoring and management of containers.

Example of implementation in China

The Port of Qingdao, China, which handles 20 million TEUs^[2] (equivalent to 20 million containers) annually, has been remotely loading and unloading containers via 5G since 2017. Previously, one operator would board and maneuver each crane, but with remote control, one person can now monitor and operate multiple cranes. Ericsson, which is participating in the implementation of 5G at the Port of Qingdao, says that the port with 5G remote control "can save up to 70% in labor costs」^[3] compared to the conventional port.