Configuration of a Maritime Container Terminal

The above figure depicts the standard configuration of a large container terminal. It occupies a substantial area, mainly because of storage requirements, even if this storage is short term. The major elements composing a maritime container terminal are:

• Docking area. Represents a berth where a containership can dock and have technical specifications such as length and draft. A standard post-panamax containership requires about 325 meters of docking space as well as a draft of about 45 feet (13 meters). Some terminals have separate facilities for handling barges (such as Antwerp and Rotterdam), although most barges are handled alongside the deepsea quays.
• Container crane (Portainer). Represents the interface between the containership and the dock. Cranes have technical specifications in terms of number of movements per hour, maximum weight, and lateral coverage. A modern container crane can have a 18-20 wide coverage, implying that it can service a containership having a width of 18 to 20 containers. A gantry crane can perform about two movements (loading or unloading) per minute. The larger the number of cranes assigned to the transshipment process the faster it can take place. However, significant portside capabilities must be present to accommodate this throughput.
• Loading / unloading area. Directly adjacent to the piers and under the gantry cranes, it is the zone of interaction between the cranes and the storage areas where containers are either brought in to be lifted on the containership or unloaded to be immediately picked up and brought to storage areas. This is mainly done with straddlers or holsters. In the case of straddlers, the containers are left on the ground while with holsters the containers are loaded from or unloaded to a chassis.
• Container storage. Represents a temporary buffer zone where containers are left while the assigned containership is available to be loaded or while picked up for inland distribution. The larger the containerships handled by a port, the larger the required container storage area. Container storage can be arranged by shipbound (export) and landbound (import) stacks of containers. Stacks are commonly up to 3 containers in height which is the maximum for loaded containers and also enables straddlers to operate on top of them. Specific storage areas are also attributed to empties, which can be stacked up to 7 or 8 containers in height. Stacking areas tend to be linear since an overhead gantry crane is circulating over a row of containers.
• Gate. It is the terminal's entry and exit point able to handle in many cases up to 25 trucks at once. This is where the truck driver presents proper documentation (bill of lading) for pick up or delivery. Most of the inspection is done remotely with cameras and intercom systems where an operator can remotely see for instance the container number of an existing truck and verify if it corresponds to the bill of lading. For a delivery, the truck is assigned to a specific slot at the truck loading or unloading area where the chassis holding the container will be left to be picked up by a holster or a straddler. For a pick up, the truck will be assigned to a slot in a waiting area while the container is been picked up from a storage area, put on a chassis (if the truck does not bring its own chassis) and brought to the proper slot. The truck will then head out of the terminal, be inspected to insure that the right container has been picked up and head inland. If well managed, the container will already be available for pick up (on a chassis in the truck loading / unloading area). However, delays for pick up can sometimes be considerable (hours) when a large containership has just delivered a significant batch of containers and there is a "rush" to be the first to pick them up.
• Chassis storage. Area where empty chassis are stored while waiting to be allocated to a truck or a holster. In inland freight distribution, there are on average three chassis available per container.
• Administration. The management facility of the terminal, often having a control tower to insure a level of visibility of the whole terminal area. This is where many complex logistical functions are performed such as the assignment of delivered containers to a storage space location as well as the location and the loading or unloading sequence of containers by straddlers and holsters. Additionally, the complex task of designing the loading and unloading sequence of a containership is performed.
• On dock rail terminal. Many large container terminals have an adjacent rail terminal to which they are directly connected to. This enable the composition of large containerized unit trains to reach long distance inland markets.
• Repair / maintenance. Area where regular maintenance activities of the terminal's heavy equipment is performed.

Areas nearby container terminals tend to have a high concentration of activities linked to freight distribution such as distribution centers, empty container storage depots, trucking companies and large retailers.