Page 33 - Port Of Hamburg Magazine 04.2019

Innovative solutions at BASF
Safety is the top priority in chemical logistics. For transporting chemicals, intermodal transport offers a substantial advantage. Representatives of the COMBINE project received an insight into innovative solutions at BASF in Ludwigshafen.
INNOVATIVE INDUSTRY ■
Until June 2021, Port of Hamburg Marketing will be heading Interreg’s COMBINE Baltic project focussing on intermodal transport. A total of 14 selected associate partners from Belarus, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Lat- via, Poland and Sweden are involved. This project con- centrates on strengthening intermodal transport by boosting efficiency at transhipment points, as well as during pre- and postshipment in the Baltic region. Among the measures in focus here are the use of new technology in cargo handling and pre- and on-carriage, the development of appropriate business models and improvement of the political parameters.
wigshafen works is the world’s largest single chemi- cal site owned by just one company. BASF’s main plant is also the birthplace of the ‘Verbund’, a special approach to integration. Production facilities, energy flows and logistics are intelligently networked to uti- lize resources as efficiently as possible. Ludwigshafen therefore acted as model for BASF’s five other ‘Ver- bund’ strongholds in Europe, the USA and Asia.
INNOVATIONS IN CEHEMICAL SUPPY CHAINS
New solutions for the chemical product supply chain were presented during this visit. Among
THE COMBINE PROJECT GROUP WAS BRIEFED ON INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR CHEMICAL LOGISTICS AT BASF.
In combined transport, goods are moved by train, ships or barges, keeping the first and last mile cov- ered by road as short as possible. However, the share of this efficient and more environmentally friendly transport scheme in the Baltic Sea region remains small due to geographically widely dispersed trans- port routes and the traditional use of trucking. COM- BINE aims to increase this share by improving the op- eration at terminals and reducing the costs of the last mile by introducing new solutions such as platooning, longer/heavier trucks, e-trucks, and LNG-trucks.
A MODEL FOR OTHER SITES
Covering around ten square kilometres, BASF’s Lud-
these is the 45-ft BASF Class tank container as a type new to its fleet. The group is also develop- ing a fully automatic container warehouse along with unmanned vehicles to transport containers across its site, interacting with other modes of transport.
COOPERATION WITH HHLA
Drones to deliver the empty containers from storage in Mannheim across the Rhine were presented as one future innovation. BASF is cooperating closely here with Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA), which is developing this technology for use in the Port of Hamburg. ■
Port of Hamburg Magazine | December 2019 | 33
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