Port of Rotterdam puts internet of things platform into operation

A new internet of things platform has been developed for the Port of Rotterdam Authority to boost safety and efficiency.

The platform includes a first application for hydro/meteo, which has recently been put into operation. The system uses an extensive network of sensors to provide accurate and up-to-date water (hydro) and weather (meteo) data for planning and management.

The construction of the IoT platform was announced a year ago by the collaborating partners IBM, Cisco, Esri and Axians, and has now been delivered under the Port Authority’s direction. “It’s a fantastic step in the development of Rotterdam as the ‘smartest port’,” stated the port authority’s chief operating officer Ronald Paul. “Just as important, however, is that the cloud platform and the generated real-time information, which includes infrastructure, water and weather condition data, enables us to further improve mission-critical processes in the service to our clients.”

The generic building blocks that have now been implemented offer, the Port of Rotterdam said, a safe and reliable basis for rapid innovation with access to the latest technologies, including edge computing, real-time analytics, artificial intelligence, hyper-precise data and blockchain.

The port authority said in a statement “the proof of the pudding” of the IoT platform was completing the hydro/meteo application. It said this was the first time the generic IoT platform was used for a mission-critical application.

The delivered hydro/meteo system obtains height of tide, tidal stream, salinity, wind speed, wind direction and visibility data via a combination of 44 sensors in the port, many prediction models, data from Rijkswaterstaat and astronomical calculations.

The port authority said “This enables the application to contribute to reducing waiting times and optimising berthing, loading/unloading and departure times. The technology allows, for example, to more precisely predict the best time to berth and depart, depending on water conditions, while guaranteeing maximum loads.”

Each day, the platform processes some 1.2M data points for models, systems and users.

Users of the hydro/meteo system include the Pilotage Service, Rijkswaterstaat, DCMR and various departments within the Port Authority.