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Towards a green and sustainable ecosystem for the EU Port of the Future

PortForward will attempt to address important challenges that today’s ports are facing, in order to take a substantial step towards the Port of the Future. More specifically the following needs are addressed:

  • Lack of efficiency in operations with heterogeneous freights (roll-on/roll-off cargo, containers), such as inefficient land use, berth scheduling and quay crane allocation, quay crane scheduling and bay sequencing, yard con-figuration and stacking policies, and lack of monitoring of the depth of access channels and quays, which varies due to silting
  • Need for real time monitoring of freight flows through the use of end-to-end track-and-trace solutions in order to optimize port activities.
  • Need for remote monitoring and management of important port operations, such as maintenance scheduling, cargo and passenger traffic, especially for short sea shipping cases
  • Interconnection with hinterland transportation with special focus on inland waterways
  • Interface with the surrounding urban environment
  • Experience sharing and transferability to other intermodal transport hubs (ports, airports, etc.)
  • Environmental impact reduction through the use of green technologies and energy solutions saving

Professor Mansouri, as Brunel’s PI, is leading a work package on Green Scheduling and Sustainability of Operations for the development of a novel green yard scheduler (GYS). The scheduler is used for yard operations and is a core component of the PortForward decision support system (DSS). It is designed to enhance the environmental sustainability of port operations.

The GYS is developed in close collaboration with the Port of Vigo from Spain in a flexible and scalable manner for wider application by other container terminals. Interested ports and other stakeholders of container terminals are welcome to get in touch with Professor Mansouri for further details, demonstrations and applications of the GYS.

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Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Professor Afshin Mansouri

Related Research Group(s)

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Operations and Information Systems Management - We specialize in responsible and sustainable operation management exploring information systems, operations research, management science, and general management and strategic management knowledge and approaches across public and private industry sectors

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Entrepreneurship and Sustainability - Our focus is on how individuals, businesses and societies can tap into creative and entrepreneurial flair to develop innovative solutions, in order to not only create economic value, but also solve social and environmental problems.


Partnering with confidence

Organisations interested in our research can partner with us with confidence backed by an external and independent benchmark: The Knowledge Exchange Framework. Read more.


Project last modified 12/10/2023