VLI technology to optimize cargo handling arrives at TPD terminal

The Ship Loading and Unloading Planning System (Speed in Portuguese), developed by VLI  to promote more efficiency in cargo loading and unloading, is now employed at the Diverse Products Terminal (TPD). Located in Vitória, Espírito Santo, the TPD is in Brazil’s largest private port complex: the Tubarão complex. The software, already part of the company’s operations at the Port of Pecém, began to be implemented at TPD in July 2021.

Before Speed, the ship’s captain was solely responsible for deploying a plan to load or unload cargo, with a sole focus on the ship’s stability and no regard for the time required to complete the process. As a result, operating time was directly affected. According to Luciano Gonçalves Pereira, VLI’s manager of Digital Transformation for Ports and Terminals, the estimated gain with the tool is a two-hour gain per vessel. “With 45 ships in berth four operated by VLI, the gain will be a reduction of 90 operating hours in one year,” he estimates.

According to Luciano Pereira, to be implemented in the TPD, the system underwent some changes due to the differences in products and ships compared to Pecém. “The main benefit is an increase in the operational efficiency of unloading ships. The software allows planning the unloading and simulating optimized scenarios to increase the simultaneity of ship unloader operation. Furthermore, the plans and simulations take into account the ship’s stability and other variables to ensure the structural safety of the vessel,” he emphasizes.

The next phase of Speed, the boarding plan, is scheduled to start operating at the TPD in early 2023. At the moment, it is being developed at the Terminal Integrador Portuário Luiz Antonio Mesquita (Tiplam), located on the São Paulo coast, and at the São Luís Port Terminal (TPSL), in the state of Maranhão.

According to the manager of Digital Transformation for Ports and Terminals at VLI, the expectation is that this second phase, which includes the ship boarding plan, will generate efficiency with a 15% reduction in the operational time of boarding per ship at the TPD, increasing the cargo throughput during the year.

The expectation is that Speed will be replicated in all the company’s port terminals.

Sharing is caring!