The use of autonomous Terminal Tractors (TT), used for transporting containers between quay cranes and storage areas, are to be trialled by Belfast Harbour.
Nearly £400k has been secured from the UK's Department for Transport’s Smart Shipping Acceleration Fund to carry out the study at Belfast Harbour’s Victoria Terminal 3 container terminal.
The first of its kind project in the UK and Ireland will begin in November and run for a five month period.
The aim of the trial is to see if autonomous TT operations reduce environmental impacts, increase safety and enhance operational efficiency.
Traditional TTs make a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.
"The project is part of Belfast Harbour’s commitment to building a sustainable future and further enhances our ESG credentials by partnering with key tenants to help them address Scope 3 emissions," said Laura O’Neill, Digital Transformation Manager at Belfast Harbour
"The study aims to reduce the amount of time TTs are idle, increase throughput of containers and investigate the potential for higher skilled jobs."
The project will see existing TTs fitted with autonomous software and hardware that it is hoped will lead to an optimisation of fleet operations and the achievement of up to 30% fuel efficiency gains.
"Our goal is to develop and demonstrate a regulatory-compliant autonomous TT solution that can be seamlessly replicated across regional ports in the UK and beyond," said Sadaf Ghani, Chief Marketing Communication Officer at Aidrivers Ltd.
"By showcasing the scalability and efficiency of autonomous TTs in smaller ports, the initiative aims to set new standards in global port operations while positioning UK companies as leaders in autonomous port technologies."
