The future of ports is in Tianjin, China

Ports keep global trade moving, but most are still operated the old-fashioned way. More than 98% of container terminals around the world rely on manual labor, creating bottlenecks and inefficiencies.

Tianjin Port, one of the world’s ten largest terminals, is meeting these challenges with gusto. Located on China’s Bohai Bay, it handles 20 million containers a year and employs more than 20,000 people.

But what sets it apart is how it has embraced intelligent digital technology to make its operations safer and more efficient.

The heart of terminal automation lies in moving containers more efficiently across the yard. At Tianjin Port, the 5G + Smart Port Project introduced a cloud-based autonomous driving system that uses 5G networks and high-definition maps to coordinate real-time data from berths, quay cranes, Rubber-Tired Gantry (RTG) cranes, and driverless flatbed trucks. Smart, cloud-based algorithms plan routes, control speeds, and dispatch vehicles in real time, improving safety, cutting labor demands, and boosting overall productivity.

A major milestone came in October 2021, when Tianjin launched the world’s first Smart Zero-Carbon Terminal. This facility became a national model for upgrading port operations, while advancing low-carbon development. Powered by AI, 5G, and China’s BeiDou satellite system (similar to GPS), the terminal automates the entire container-handling process in a horizontally arranged yard — a first in the industry.

Compared with traditional automated terminals, the Smart Zero-Carbon Terminal delivers striking improvements: 30% lower investment, 10% less container re-handling, and over 17% lower energy consumption. It also operates with 60% fewer staff — and thanks to renewable energy sources, it’s 100% self-powered.

The vast terminal is devoid of people. Quay cranes operate like giant claw machines, autonomous trucks navigate themselves to storage yards, and gantry cranes meticulously stack containers as if playing a game of Tetris. This futuristic setup is no fantasy, but a practical solution born out of necessity.

Rotterdam put the world's first fully automated container terminal into operation in as early as 1993. But, while automated terminals offered an attractive option, their global uptake over the next 30 years has been limited. There are several reasons for this.

Automated terminals are expensive, often prohibitively so. They require vertical layout designs for processes and equipment, demanding measures like complete physical separation—that is, barrier isolation—between storage yards and autonomous vehicle zones. Traditional ports do not have this infrastructure in place. Replicating this model is challenging unless you start from scratch or completely renovate existing facilities.

Fiber to the dock

This is where the concept of smart ports originated, starting specifically with quay crane operations.

Quay cranes play a central role in terminal revenue generation. When vessels dock, efficient container loading and unloading is critical. Historically, this has been a labor-intensive process requiring skilled manual operation.

"Powered by AI and 5G, smart ports are reshaping global logistics. Tianjin is leading the charge." -- Yang Jiejin, Vice President of Tianjin Port Group

Rain or shine, quay crane operators have to climb 40 to 50 meters up into their cabins to maneuver a swaying spreader, a rectangular frame attached to the cranes that locks onto the four corners of the shipping container. Managing a spreader is like playing with a giant claw machine at an amusement park, except that instead of a small stuffed animal, the prize is a shipping container. Operators must work almost non-stop eight hours a day, hunched over and peering down at containers the size of shoeboxes, with zero margin for error.

Can this task be performed remotely?

Optical fiber transmission within a 20-kilometer range has a latency of under 1 millisecond, meeting the technical requirements for this scenario. Huawei's fixed 5G (F5G) all-optical solution offers low latency and high bandwidth, making it suitable for tasks such as automated controls for port machinery and video uploads.

The solution helps move the cabin from the quay crane to an air-conditioned control room. A single operator can remotely control multiple quay cranes simultaneously, reducing labor intensity and making the whole job a lot safer.

ARTs and sciences

Tianjin Port also wants to achieve autonomous driving. Hardly a novel concept, autonomous driving in ports dates back to 1993, when Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) were initially used to move containers horizontally from quay cranes to storage yards.

AGVs traditionally operate along designated tracks, necessitating modifications to the road surface and the installation of magnetic nails: small, sensor-detectable magnets that help the AGV follow a pre-set route. But even advanced AGVs can encounter congestion issues caused by network latency and signal packet loss.

Tianjin Port did not use AGVs. Instead, it deployed Artificial Intelligence Robots of Transportation (ARTs), an intelligent driving system jointly developed by Tianjin Port and Huawei.

Human drivers get tired, and those working night shifts can’t rely solely on coffee to keep them awake. ARTs, by contrast, work around the clock. They also help with the problem of recruiting enough drivers. For example, the No. 2 Container Terminal needs at least 90 trucks. Even with three drivers per truck, it would still mean hiring more than 200 drivers.

More importantly, deploying ARTs eliminates the need for road reconstruction. It uses cameras and radar to sense its surroundings, then applies BeiDou, a satellite navigation system similar to GPS, for precise positioning. After that, ARTs uploads location and road condition data to the cloud over a 5G network.

But that network must be designed to overcome interference that would otherwise be created by quay cranes, containers, and buildings. These large steel structures can block or reflect 5G and GPS signals, creating inaccuracies or gaps in signal coverage. Huawei solved that problem by integrating two frequency bands, 2.6 GHz and 700 MHz, to achieve both wide and in-depth coverage – another first for the smart port industry.

The brain of Tianjin Port

The Intelligent Control Center functions as the terminal’s brain. Here you can find quay crane operators and container truck drivers, as well as management personnel.

Smart terminal production scheduling involves controlling tens of millions of parameters, with a range of variables to be considered: vessel arrivals, vessel tonnage, weather conditions, berthing plans, quay crane plans, storage yard plans, and vehicle dispatching, to name a few. Historically, each production scheduling task required 24 hours of manual calculation, and any change after scheduling could disrupt overall production.

Now, scheduling involving tens of millions of parameters can be completed in just a few minutes, using an AI-powered mathematical optimization tool developed by Huawei.

Over the past three years, this tool and other technologies have helped Tianjin Port boost increase its equipment utilization by 15% and reduce vessels’ port time by 10%. These improvements were achieved not by simply adding more equipment and labor, but by the ongoing optimization of algorithms.

Leading intelligence

Even industry insiders are astonished by sci-fi quality of Tianjin Port. The processes and layout, whether for quay cranes or storage yards, look like those of a traditional terminal. The intelligent technology behind this marvel is hidden from sight.

For example, during Tianjin Port's digital transformation, the port and Huawei jointly developed a large model called PortGPT. It uses Huawei's Pangu, a series of AI-powered models developed for various industries. By integrating Pangu with port operations and industry-specific data, the terminal developed the first professional large-model sample library, with six major categories, more than 80 sub-categories, and millions of samples. This enables broad application in computer vision (CV) scenarios. Its full-stack, in-house model capabilities support intelligent services across the port — allowing massive cranes to “see,” “hear,” and “think,” transforming port operations.

Thanks to the port’s transformation, South American cherries now appear in fruit markets in Tianjin, Beijing, Hebei, and Henan within just five hours of being unloaded at the port. At the same time, Chinese automobiles are extending their global reach from Tianjin Port at a faster pace, with a growth rate of nearly 40%.

Ports are more than gateways for goods — they’re vital links between global trade and everyday life. As smart technologies advance, ports will become even more connected, efficient, and integrated with the cities and industries around them.