Traders talk at the booth of ZPMC, also known as Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., at TOC Europe 2023 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, June 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Xiangjiang)
ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese green technologies have garnered attention at TOC Europe 2023, a major European exhibition for port and container supply chain professionals, which concluded here on Thursday.
Participants in the three-day event hosted by the Rotterdam Ahoy Convention Center included China's ZPMC, one of the world's largest port machinery manufacturers, and Westwell, a leading supplier of artificial intelligence-driven smart port solutions.
ZPMC, also known as Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., exhibited its green and low-carbon port products, including hydrogen-fueled cranes and rapid hydrogen refueling technologies.
"Currently, major port operators worldwide have successively formulated '2030' decarbonization and emission reduction plans," ZPMC Chairman Liu Chengyun told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.
The company counts on increased demand for decarbonization in equipment production and operational processes, Liu said.
Port machinery products, especially yard cranes and handling equipment, are trending towards large-scale electrification and the utilization of new energy sources, such as hydrogen and other green energies, he said.
"ZPMC actively practices and explores the research and development of new energy equipment," Liu said. "It focuses on the development of green and low-carbon port machinery."
Its low carbon-oriented products include cranes driven by hydrogen, a new electric quay crane that can sustain operations for over eight hours, and an environment-friendly full electric stacker. It has also pioneered rapid hydrogen refueling and hydrogen exchange technologies for cranes.
Westwell, also known as Shanghai Westwell Information and Technology Company Ltd., released its next-generation digital and intelligent port operating platform and a robotic terminal operation assistant dubbed TerminalGPT, which can make port operations "more efficient, safer, and greener."
In addition, Westwell also released its Q-truck, a cabless electric autonomous commercial vehicle, which can be "flexibly applied to multiple scenarios, such as sea, land, airports, and factories."
Niels Roed, alliance coordinator Asia of Copenhagen-based Danish shipping giant Maersk, told Xinhua that he had "a very good impression" of the Chinese suppliers in the terminal equipment industry.
"In the terminal equipment industry, Chinese suppliers are on the very top, their technology is on the very top," he said.
In certain technologies, such as electrification, automation, and new energy batteries, Chinese companies are frontrunners, he said.
Roed added that his company will strengthen its cooperation with ZPMC to realize its growth strategy that builds on automation and decarbonization. ■