Yesterday, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, together with its technology partners Akkodis, VDL, and Medrepair (part of MedlogSA, affiliated with MSC), demonstrated an autonomous and fully electric shuttle at the Medrepair Terminal. Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges:
"Today, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges acts more than ever as a unique testing ground for groundbreaking innovations. Thanks to the PIONEERS project, we can test concrete solutions in an operational environment that contribute to our goal of becoming a climate-neutral port. The autonomous electric container shuttle, driving on an active terminal for the first time today, perfectly illustrates how technology and sustainability can go hand in hand. We are therefore particularly proud to contribute actively to this."
Short Distances to the Warehouse
The electric container shuttle automates short-distance transfers between key operational areas, such as warehouses, stacks, and gates. This is intended to reduce the
need for conventional diesel-powered vehicles and manual handling. Equipped with intelligent navigation software and high-resolution sensors, the platform autonomously follows a predefined route while ensuring operational transparency through a central Human-Machine Interface (HMI). Daniel Tocantins, Director Europe Medrepair:
"The productivity of a terminal depends on how smoothly goods can flow from one touchpoint to another. By automating this process with emission-free vehicles, we are introducing a solution that supports sustainability goals and offers tangible benefits in terms of speed, reliability, and cost efficiency."
According to its own statements, the vehicle is based on the three-axle MTT platform by VDL and is equipped with an electric 6x4 transmission and a dynamic axle system optimized for terminal conditions, ensuring consistent performance under varying loads and terrain.
This is already the second successful test of the system following a technical validation earlier this year in Breda, Netherlands.
Yesterday's practical test focused on integrating the system into a busy port terminal. Operational insights were gained, which the partners say can be used for future scaling and commercial deployment.
For terminal operators and logistics companies, the autonomous shuttle represents a modular, scalable, and versatile component of Logistics as a Service (LaaS) strategies, opening up new opportunities for reducing handling times, minimizing workload, and increasing yard throughput.
The shuttle system is intended to better manage the increasing complexity of internal container movements, thereby transforming container transport within the terminal and improving operational efficiency, safety, and sustainability in ports.
The technology was presented as part of the PIONEERS project, financed by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. Karel Smits, Director of New Business VDL Automated Vehicles:
"VDL is a leader in sustainable heavy-duty transport in the field of automated vehicles. Our knowledge
and experience in design, electrification, connectivity, autonomous driving, and mobility as a service, combined with safety, are fully integrated into this MTT platform. Since 2011, VDL has deployed more than 300 driverless transport vehicles in the ports of ECT (Rotterdam), PSA (Singapore), and DGT (Busan) as well as at industrial sites of BASF (Ludwigshafen) and Aviko (Steenderen). The VDL Mixed Traffic Transporter, used in Antwerp, is the perfect evolution of our position."
The Details
- Maximum speed: 15 kilometers per hour, depending on total weight, route, and traffic conditions
- Range: 8 hours driving time with one battery charge
- E-motors: Power 168 KW, Torque 2,200 Nm
- Gross battery capacity: 144 kWh
- Unladen weight: 15,000 kg, depending on setup
- Maximum payload: 48,000 kg
- Maximum total weight: 63,000 kg
- Three axles, 6x4 drive
- Dimensions: 2.55 meters wide, chassis height: 1.07 meters, chassis length: 12.56 meters; equivalent to a
