Supporting the green agenda for the global container shipping industry

Increasing operational efficiency for marine container terminals while reducing the CO2 footprint for the entire industry

The partnership between Blockshipping and 2021.AI will help overcome a 40-year old industry challenge. Using AI, the two companies will materially improve operational efficiency for marine container terminals while reducing the CO2 footprint for the shipping industry.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK | FEBRUARY | 2021

2021.AI and Blockshipping have made an industry-defining step in bringing the AI-enhanced capabilities of Blockshipping’s Import Dwell Time Prediction (AI-IDP) solution to market, to the benefit of container terminals and their customers around the world.

“Artificial Intelligence is a great fit for addressing some of the core business challenges in the shipping industry. At 2021.AI, we have deep experience in optimizing operations for organizations facing complex logistical and planning problems. Through the partnership with Blockshipping, this capability has become available to even more clients,” says Mikael Munck, CEO & Founder, 2021.AI.

Establishing the new normal

Today, most container terminals have a traditional and random stacking method for placing import containers in the yard. Terminal operators have little certainty about how long a specific import container will remain in the yard and when somebody will pick it up, so the stacking is neither efficient nor cost-optimized.

“Since the beginning of container transport, it has been normal practice for terminals to accept random stacking of import containers and a relatively high number of yard shifts to dig out the container at the time of delivery to importers. Using AI and Machine Learning, we provide a solution that enables intelligent stacking by predicting each container’s dwell time. AI-IDP is TOS agnostic and will benefit yard operation at any terminal using any operating system,” says Peter Ludvigsen, CEO & Founder, Blockshipping.

The average cost of shuffling a single container is approximately US $30. AI-IDP can reduce the number of moves by more than 30% and better utilize the often limited space available in container terminals.

“The AI-IDP solution from Blockshipping has redefined our expectations regarding how AI can be used to reduce unproductive container moves to optimize import delivery further. Additionally, we are seeing the potential for our customers to increase CHE utilization, which will help them increase throughput and reduce their carbon footprint. We are evaluating the solution for roll-out at a pilot facility in 2021 and see AI-IDP as a value-added TOS integration that most terminal operators will be interested in,” comments Hugh Gallagher, VP Customer Success, Tideworks Technology.

Going beyond cost savings

By combining Blockshipping’s deep industry experience with 2021.AI’s GRACE AI platform and data science expertise for developing advanced models, the AI-IDP solution is delivering significant savings for container terminals by reducing yard shifts in import stacks. There are additional benefits outside of the lower cost of operations, including reduced carbon emissions. Based on the potential, Blockshipping recently received funding from the EUDP.

According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), maritime transport emits around 940 million tonnes of CO2 annually and is responsible for about 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Through AI-IDP, container terminals can make operations more efficient, contributing to reducing their emissions. For an average-sized terminal, this can lead to a reduction of more than 2,500 tonnes per year, making the AI-IDP solution a significant contributor when it comes to reducing CO2 emissions.

“The shipping industry is of crucial importance to the world economy. It is also well documented that the industry is a significant contributor to global CO2 emissions. There is great potential to deploy new and disruptive technology, such as AI, to further the green agenda. Increasing efficiency and productivity while also lowering CO2 emissions is not mutually exclusive. What we can do for the shipping industry, in collaboration with Blockshipping, is a great example of this,” says Mikael Munck, CEO & Founder, 2021.AI.

    About Blockshipping

    Blockshipping was founded with the aim to launch a global IT platform that seeks to improve container logistic efficiencies. The company consists of a team of industry experts working with leading AI specialists to help marine container terminals, ocean carriers, BCOs, and service providers become more efficient, save costs and reduce their carbon footprint. Besides, AI-IDP Blockshipping invests in optimizing container inventory management, facilitating terminal truck exchanges, and building the Blockchain Container Asset Register for the shipping industry. Read more on www.blockshipping.net

    About 2021.AI

    2021.AI serves the growing enterprise need for full management and oversight of applied AI. Our data science expertise combined with the GRACE AI Platform is a business differentiator for clients and partners worldwide. GRACE helps data scientists solve some of the most complex business problems with automated machine learning while providing organizations with the most comprehensive data and AI Governance capability for responsible, transparent, and trustworthy model development. 2021.AI is headquartered in Copenhagen, with employees in five locations globally.

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