A global market worth $3.75 billion (TechUK) in 2019, the emerging technology of the Digital Twin is on a rapid pace of growth throughout industries including construction and transport.
A digital representation or ‘twin’ of a physical object or system can take whole components of a physical entity and virtually map that body into a 3D interface, providing untold benefits ranging from operational maintenance to predictive analysis for the twin operator.
Yet one sector where digital twin usage is in a fledgling state is in ports and maritime. Compared to rail, civil engineering, or architecture sectors, experts argue digital twin usage is behind in its adoption and discourse globally.
“Adoption barriers for digital twins are generally the ability to get the datasets needed to inform those digital twins,” said Susanne Baker, Associate Director, Climate, Environment, at Tech UK.
“The key is getting the right data in the right places and having the connectivity to unlock that data.”
Baker co-authored a recent report into harnessing digital twin usage in the United Kingdom – highlighting that the UK Government should invest some £150 million ($175 million) to £200 million ($233 million) over a decade.
But there is also an onus on the ports themselves to dive into digital twins when embarking on digitalisation projects, argues Karri Koistinen, Head of Sales at GISGRO.
“Implementing a huge change from day one is quite high probability that it will fail, instead of incremental changes you’re going to make step-by-step,” Koistinen said. “You have to prioritise: what are the key issues for us? And then go from there.”
HPC
Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC), with clients across a variety of different port sizes and make-ups around the world, sees the digital twin as the only way to fully harness the confluence of data sources in a port complex.
In each of these three areas will be swathes of Internet of Things (IoT) and intelligent sensors releasing data for a digital twin to utilise. “I would say that the digital twin is the only way how you can make use of all of these signals and information,” said Torsten Neubert, Senior IT Consultant at HPC.
“Then you can make a plan. Measuring and controlling is the first step, and we can only measure and control with a digital twin nowadays.”
From static to proactive
The ability to digitally map a port’s operations – and the mix of port actors using a port terminal every day – means ports can transition from a simple day-to-day measuring the operations of a port, to proactively planning future strategic decisions based off of the data the port is providing.
Dennis Koegeboehn, Partner and Specialist in Terminal Development and Design, said he is seeing clients move away from “static” port planning with laborious 12,000-page roadmaps on how a port is supposed to develop – to the scenario-based and proactive planning process that Neubert highlighted.
“[The digital twin] becomes adaptive because you can have simulations that the port can use to understand the impact of certain scenarios,” Koegeboehn said.
“Ports will become more dynamic in order to understand what they need to do. For example: if we build that rail line or not, what is the impact? Where do we need to invest here?”
Making the green case
This informed decision making could be a key to improving the business case and unlocking greater adoption of digital twins in ports, says HPC.
The ability to digitally replicate the entire complex’s processes and measure port emissions, Koegeboehn highlighted, could be a key driver behind commercial attractiveness as ports seek to reduce its carbon footprint.
Koegeboehn argued that ports can understand the capabilities of its power output to electric HGVs, for example, greenifying the supply chain further.
Neubert took the business case a step further, adding that HPC has spoken to ports acting as energy generation hubs: integrating offshore wind power, hydrogen power, and tidal power, and selling that power back to the surrounding port community.
“If you want to control that and you want to grow that business, you need a digital twin. You need the technology behind it,” he said.
Data: what’s the use?
As Neubert initially highlighted, the colossal banks of information released by varying elements of a port every day offers limitless possibilities for what a digital twin can do.
However, the digital twin process from a port hinges on ownership, HPC believes.
Neubert said that ownership comes in multiple forms: both from a port authority like the Port of Antwerp’s APICA system, and the array of actors – like STS crane manufacturers, or HGV freight forwarders – producing that data.
“Digital twins at a port level must be open,” he said. “They must provide information to everybody who needs that information, and they must allow every technical sensor, every stakeholder, to be integrated into that digital platform.
Defining the responsible parties for ownership and operation of the digital twins is key to bringing on greater data sources in a port’s processes, added Neubert.
“Everybody – also small companies – must also be ready to work on a digital level of applications that they are able to integrate with those digital twins. So, you have to play that game. You cannot stay behind.”
But the long-lamented issue of data standardisation and sharing was highlighted by Koegeboehn as the “real question” facing port authorities considering implementing a digital twin.
“We’re working on a lot of different sort of scales and levels of information capturing, using, and interpreting information for better decision-making: but ultimately, at some point, if we want to make end-to-end visibility happen, it is still a bit of a way away to get that system integration,” he said.
Port of Antwerp
The Port of Antwerp, which handles around 12 million TEU-per-year, is a prime example of what a digital twin can be for ports.
Taking advantage of its digital infrastructure – more than 500 cameras, a comprehensive fibre network, and data pipelines sourced from drones, vessels, and equipment sensors collecting real-time weather, emissions, and traffic information – in 2019 the Port began the creation of the Antwerp Port Information Control Assistant (APICA).
By 2020, the Port had harnessed its “digital nervous system,” APICA, to provide intelligent information for daily informed decision-making, Piet Opstaele, Innovation Lead at the Port of Antwerp told PTI.
By 2021 the Port reports that it a staggering list of around 125 potential use cases of data that can be utilised by APICA.
“You can divide our potential use cases into four groups: monitoring of our vessel fleet, inspection of our infrastructure, detections for emergencies, and visualisation of all of the traffic around the port,” he said.
“We have massive amount of data and from this we can move to the next level, using advanced analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms developed to do all kinds of crazy combinations and things we don’t know yet today,” Opstaele argued.
The end user
Whilst the port hosts a considerable number of datapoints, APICA still needs to benefit the blend of port users and its surrounding community.
In the APICA control centre itself, Opstaele said staff benefit from an all-encompassing integrated screen replicating in real-time the ongoings of the port complex: and monitor any potential alerts.
“The whole APICA principle is, as a staff member, you can respond when an alert is coming in,” he said. “The alert system is still the ultimate goal, but staff wanted an integrated screen where we can see what the situation is now in the port on bunkering, locations, or air quality, for example.”
When working within the port community, like many ports, Antwerp is conscientious of reducing environmentally-damaging emissions during daily work.
“As a port authority, we have around 40 ships and boats. They are an important source of emissions because of the power they use,” he said. “In one of our use cases, we are currently implementing extra sensors to monitor the use and the behavior of these boats.
“That way we expect that we can reduce on 5-10% emissions from our vessels.”
While just a tenth in reductions of their own vessels may not make a considerable dent in a port’s total carbon footprint, APICA is scaled to all vessels using the port – analysing its emissions output during its shipping operations for a port that transfers around 240 million tons of cargo each year.
Predict and prevent
One real upcoming benefit a digital twin combined with AI and Machine Learning can provide is through predictive analysis, says Opstaele.
The port is working on a use case on ship collision avoidance. When a vessel containing dangerous cargo, for example, comes to moor at one of Antwerp’s berthing facilities, connecting to the physical port complex, there is a considerable element of risk for ship collisions between fixed elements and other users of the ports.
Port operators can harness the information gained from incoming vessels to digitally map any potential risks of docking and departing vessels on APICA.
“The potential of emerging technologies is really huge,” Opstaele said. “Things are changing so fast around us, that we look which kind of developments many technologies can be of value – because innovation is about creating value for us as a company or as a port platform.”
