Gaussin and Russian port operator Fenix Investments have signed a deal for the supply of AGVs to the Port of Bronka, Saint Petersburg
The deal was signed on 10th December in Moscow by Gaussin’s President Christophe Gaussin and Fenix Investments’ Director General Nikolai Negedov within the framework of the Franco-Russian Economic, Financial, Industrial and Trade Council (СЕФИК) agreement.
Present at the signing were Bruno Le Maire, France’s Ministry of Economy and Finance and Maxim Oreshkin, Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
"We are always open to innovation and leading technology and that is why Bronka is among the most modern container terminals in Russia," said Negedov. "Fully electric and autonomous driving – this is an ecological and modern decision. The acquisition of 70 tonne autonomous transporters allows us to raise the efficiency of managing container flows and speed up the work processes."
The value of the transaction has not been disclosed, but the deal is believed to be for [up to] three AIVs. It is not clear when the first one will be deployed, but it could be before the end of 2020. First, the equipment needs to be adapted to the Russian market. The "russified" machine would then be tested by Gaussin in France before going for further tests in Bronka.
The three French-built AIVs would then be progressively phased into the port’s operation. If they are successful and a serial production order follows, then future machines would likely be assembled in Russia.
Details concerning the navigation and fleet management system have not been disclosed. Gaussin, however, has previously stated that it owns the rights to the FMS in the VASCO AGV it demonstrated with industry partners in Lille-Dourges earlier this year. This incorporates GPS, LIDAR and SLAM technologies, so no terminal infrastructure of any kind is required.
Opened for business in December 2015, Fenix’s Bronka Terminal Saint Petersburg phase 1 development can accommodate vessels up to 347m long and 50m wide, with a draft of up to 13m. Today the facility has an annual capacity for around 1.9M TEU of containers and 260,000 automobiles and other rolling cargo units.
Gaussin has published a video of the AIV FULL ELEC in its self-decoupling (’Lift’) variant. The Bronka deal concerns the passive variant.
Source: WorldCargo News