Norwegian e-Navigation technology specialist NAVTOR is to spend the next three years helping the EU chart a route towards autonomous vessels. The company has been selected to represent the maritime industry in the ENABLE project - conceived to prove, verify and validate the safety of autonomous vehicles in Europe. NAVTOR has now received funding to investigate the concept of ‘shore-based bridges’, a crucial stepping stone on the path to autonomy.

The Port House, the new headquarters of Antwerp Port Authority, will be ceremonially opened on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September. Visitors will then have the opportunity to admire the new building from the inside. After four years of construction this architectural icon on the Antwerp skyline is now complete: the old Hansa Building has been fully restored, while the new glass structure in the shape of a ship soars above this former fire station to the North of the city which is now a protected monument.

The British Industrial Truck Association (BITA) has issued a positive post-Brexit vote economic report, although the report also reveals sobering data within parts of the UK forklift industry. The latest Forklift Truck Market Outlook for 2016 produced by Oxford Economics on behalf of BITA suggests that the economic impact of Brexit might not be as significant as other forecasters are predicting.

Rack Sense helps effectively monitor the impact levels to your pallet racking, aiming in turn to save on repair costs and improving the safety of your warehouse – that’s the claim of The Rack Group.
The Rack Group prides itself on reducing pallet racking maintenance costs through innovative, market leading products and services. Their latest offering comes in the form of “Rack Sense”, a sensor device which is attached to the inside of a pallet racking upright. Once there it monitors the impacts levels to the upright and notifies warehouse staff of any impacts in real time.

Goplasticpallets.com has launched Nest M1, the first “one-eighth” retail pallet to the supply chain industry.
Designed and manufactured by supply chain packaging specialists CABKA-IPS, the new Nest M1 pallet is a small, lightweight, nestable pallet, ideal for point-of-sale and eye-catching retail displays. Made with special secure location points, product displays and sleeves can be safely and effortlessly fixed to the pallet.

At the International Materials Handling Exhibition (IMHX) 2016, visitors had the chance to see how tough Hyster® trucks are meeting the needs of demanding applications at various stages of the supply chain – from ship to store to factory floor.
“With built-in quality and toughness, the broad range of Hyster® trucks ensures that the right truck can be chosen for the specific needs of a materials handling application, no matter how big or small,” says Kate Pointeau, Brand Manager for Hyster. “Visitors to IMHX saw how this can help reduce fuel usage, optimise fleet size or reduce maintenance and day to day operating costs.”

One of the UK's largest municipally-owned ports is strengthening its partnership with Cooper Specialised Handling, the UK's only independent and dedicated provider of specialised heavy lifting solutions, as it enhances its materials handling capability. Port of Sunderland has taken delivery of a new Konecranes 32-1200C, the second heavy duty forklift that Cooper has supplied to the port, which has seen its fortunes change in recent years, with millions of investment into redevelopment and new equipment.

The new Autopilot TAE050 from Toyota Material Handling Europe, launched at the IMHX fair in the UK, simplifies, standardises and optimises customer operations. This low-cost solution can be installed easily and be up and running in no time. It will enhance the site’s internal flow, reduce labour and damage cost, all in an accurate and safe way. Operations are simplified and optimised especially in manufacturing sites, e-commerce businesses or healthcare facilities.

A new gutter cleaning service using an extendable super-vacuum operated from ground level has just been launched.
Mitie’s new gutter cleaning service uses an extendable Wi-Fi gutter camera and vacuum unit called the Space Vac. Extendable to 15m in length, the Space Vac can help pest control technicians spy on bird pests and then remove any nest debris they leave behind that blocks roof gutters. The extendable pole can reach into box gutters by three feet, aided by an assortment of nozzles to reach into awkward spaces.

Combilift premiered a number of new developments at this year’s IMHX, one of which will make a substantial contribution to safer working practices. Live demos of the new Combilift Safe-Lift showed how drivers can avoid the pitfalls of tip-overloading. There are several factors that can influence a forklift truck to become overloaded and these include the load centre, the weight of load, lift height and the type of load. The load centre – the distance from the face of the forks to the centre of gravity of load - plays a crucial part. But as we cannot expect forklift operators to have to constantly do the maths, the Combi Safe-Lift makes life easier and safer for them.