With the help of a newly installed system damaged containers will be easier to detect than before. The vibration data inspection system is now installed and operational. It is not a replacement for manual inspections, but it detects cracks and damages in the structure, that the human eye can’t see.
The container terminal in Port of Gävle will be the first terminal in Sweden to use the vibration data inspection system provided by Conexbird in order to discover which containers are damaged when lifting them. Not only is container terminal the first terminal in Sweden, but the second port in the world to start using this equipment. The process of doing container inspections will therefore be done with higher quality.
“It’s exciting to be part of this project and to be one of the first terminals in the world to use it. This system will be a good fit for us, and a great complement to manual inspections. The shipping companies wants their containers to be in good condition, and this allows us to update them on that”, says Terminal Manager Fredrik Rönnqvist.
The hardware is installed on the crane spreaders, where they sit safely and out of the way for needed maintenance work. When a container is being lifted, an electric hammer hits the container and sends the vibrations through Conexbirds’ cloud software to the existing TOS. It works sort of like a tuning fork. The software receives the vibrations, sending them through a machine-learning computer program that processes the data, comparing them to previous inputs, filters out noise, and then produces a comprehensive analysis of the reading. It only takes 5-40 seconds from the knock until the crane operator has the information.
This allows for a quicker determination regarding if the container is good to go or if it should be ruled out of circulation. With this, the risk of using faulty containers is minimized, and therefore lowers the risk of collapsing containers.
“Detecting weak or damaged containers earlier will save us both time and money. It allows for a much faster inspection process when we have early knowledge of which containers are faulty and not. Also, easier and earlier detection of hidden cracks and damages is a great feature”, says Fredrik Rönnqvist.
