Detecting physical impacts to the corners of shipping containers during handling operations performed by quay cranes

Abstract

This study aims to address the problem of proper shipping container damage detection during the hooking procedure performed by quay cranes and their hooking mechanisms. We adopted the Impacts Detection Methodology (IDM), developed previously, to detect repeated impacts on the same areas of the container. These concurrent impacts indicate false hooking procedures, which result in dangerous metal deformations in these areas over short periods of operational time. This application intends to verify if this methodology is adaptable in real-life applications to detect these specific events. Our main results indicate that more than half of handling procedures are carried out with a higher risk of structural damage to the containers due to these repeated impacts, which can reach up to five concurrent impacts in some case studies.