How does port automation work?

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In October 2024, dockworkers in the US went on strike for three days. Members of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) walked out at 14 major ports along the east and Gulf coasts, halting container traffic from Maine to Texas. A tentative agreement was made over wages, and they've just returned to the bargaining table to negotiate "all other outstanding issues". This includes plans to introduce automation to the ports. In the first of two programmes looking at the future of ports, we head to the Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where the port has been using automation since the 1990s - and to Cape Town in South Africa which is looking for solutions to its efficiency issues. Presented and produced by Matthew Kenyon, with additional reporting from Mohammed Allie. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] (Picture: Shipping containers are transported by automated guided vehicles (AGV) beside gantry cranes on the dockside at the Delta Terminal at the Port of Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Credit: Getty Images)