International trade is a tough business. Deadline and price pressures weigh heavily on logistics service providers and infrastructure operators. Reducing the layover time of large cargo ships is thus in the interest of both shipping companies and ports, especially when loading or unloading cannot occur for hours while the cargo is examined and approved in the laboratory beforehand. How this process could be accelerated has been demonstrated by UAS service provider ADLC in Singapore.

When trucks are not on the road, they don’t generate income. Similarly, when airplanes are grounded, or ships remain in port, they not only fail to generate revenue but also incur additional costs from parking or layover fees. This is particularly true in the major international seaports, where schedules are tightly coordinated. Hardly have container ships docked when their unloading begins. After just a few hours, these big cargo carriers set sail again.

Waiting for Unloading Approval

The shorter the layover, the lower the costs for shipping companies, and the sooner the berth is available for the next ship, which can then generate revenue for port operators. However, while loading and unloading processes for container ships operate at breakneck speed due to standardized processes and technologies, there are often periods during tanker loading when little appears to happen.

When chemicals or petroleum are delivered, the substances must first be examined by an independent laboratory before unloading is authorized. This serves both quality control, as the recipient naturally doesn’t want to buy a „pig in a poke“, and safety, ensuring that unwanted chemical reactions do not occur in the massive storage facilities on land when substances that should not be mixed come into contact.

ADLC aims to accelerate the transport of samples from tankers to the analysis laboratory at the busy port of Singapore