Port of Koper selects Camco to automate its operations

Port of Koper has chosen the Belgium-based automation company Camco Technologies for the automated registration of its increasing container and rail wagon traffic. Camco will be responsible for the design, installation and support of its rail optical character recognition (OCR) portal technology.

The Slovenian port’s investment plan expects to reach a capacity of more than 2 million TEU by 2030 and will pursue its goal of transporting at least 60% and up to 70% of the cargo from and to the Port of Koper by rail, according to a company statement.

“With the investments under our Strategic Business Plan 2020-2025 strongly focused on adoption of new technologies, the Port of Koper will increase capacity and provide efficient, reliable and high-quality services to our partners,” commented Rok Grdina, CIO & CQO of the Port of Koper.

The construction of a second railway track between the inland Divača intermodal terminal and Port of Koper will be operational by 2026. In the meantime, the existing rail track will be renovated and the company will increase its capacity through organisational as well as information-technology measures, according to an announcement.

Approved in the framework of the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE programme, which started on 1 April 2019, the COMODALCE project seeks to increase co-operation and co-ordination among multimodal freight transport stakeholders in Central Europe, using innovative information and communication technology (ICT) systems.

The Camco Technologies rail portal is equipped with artificial intelligence embedded cameras, capable of registering container, trailer and rail wagon identity documents, ISO code, weight infomation and door direction.

Dedicated engines based on convolutional neural networks and OCR technology immediately start processing after image acquisition. The data is sent to the Terminal Operating System increasing overall terminal efficiency. Camco Technologies Rail OCR has been implemented in more than 100 intermodal terminals.

As part of one of the COMOLDACE pilot activities, the Port of Koper will provide a tool to streamline and speed-up data exchange. The equipment to be provided by Luka Koper and is intended for reading containers and wagon codes during the movement of rail transport from and to the port. Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE co-funds 85% of the project’s activities through the COMODALCE project.

Camco Technologies will provide its Rail OCR portal for the automatic inventory and registration of all containers and rail wagons entering or leaving the Port of Koper.

Jan Bossens, CEO of Camco Technologies commented, “Digital transformation is entering the logistics industry through the front door and the Port of Koper is embracing this evolution.”