Simulation accessible to all

Another product under development is LifeView, a 3D visualisation of the current operation – for example, the position of equipment – resulting in a very detailed evaluation of issue such as waiting times and distances, that are typically not shown in the TOS.

Holger Schütt, chief executive of Bremerhaven-based ISL Applications, says simulation has definitely arrived in the maritime sector, especially container terminals. “Huge green field terminals in particular are using this technology – but we feel it’s time to use it also in medium-sized terminals to optimise their operation,” he says.

“Fifteen years ago, I was speaking at conferences where people didn’t know about simulators; the world has really changed in those years. It is now possible also for smaller terminals – operators who don’t have a 20-person IT department – to use this type of technology, because they don’t have to think about IT and programming and source coding by themselves. They can just use the tools that we prepare for them.”

Among customers opting for ISL Applications tools in the past three years are Eurogate in Germany, Transnet in South Africa and ICTSI in the Philippines. “Our tools are being used for greenfield terminals – for example, TecPlata in Argentina, Wilhelmshaven in Germany, SPIA in Colombia – as well as for existing ones – CTB in Germany, Durban in South Africa,” says Dr Schütt.

“We also use the tools in-house for various projects, for example the ECSIT project analysing the impacts of 100% scanning of US containers. We are also working for port authorities, for forecasting future throughput and analysing the traffic behind this – including traffic rules in the port and environmental impact.