APMT drones are making Chilean cargo handling safer and more efficient

Release time： 2018-09-05 Browsing：1202次

MAERSK port operator APM Terminals (APMT) is deploying drones at two of its inland services facilities in Chile to improve safety and efficiency, reports American Shipper.

"Since the arrival of the drones, visibility of terminal operations has improved considerably and hot spots, such as traffic flow, container stack efficiency and unsafe behaviour, can be identified instantly," said Containers Operators director Hector Espinoza.

One drone is being used at the company's Santiago facility and two others are being used at its larger facility in San Antonio to perform dangerous tasks such as rooftop and crane inspection.

In Chile, APMT runs Containers Operators SA, Bridge Intermodal Transport and Contopsa Inland Terminals as well as several inland facilities covering 415,000 square metres and provide a full range of container and cargo repair, intermodal transport, maintenance, storage and packing services.

"The drones are guided by geofencing - a route map for flying," APMT said. "The pilot has a live-stream view, so he can make phone calls to the necessary people or even fly in and use the speakers to inform a truck driver that they need to get back into their truck."

Said Mr Espinoza: "Safety supervisors are exposed to the highest risks. I knew the mining industry was having success with drones for safety, so we started testing it."

Work began in 2016, and since then, drones have been periodically used to film site operations, monitor traffic flows and container stack efficiency, and to observe unsafe behaviour, APMT said.