Ready to tackle the future

Acquire the skills of tomorrow today

The project team began by determining which areas of expertise skilled port trades will require in the future, says Küther. “It was an iterative process. Initially, we evaluated scientific literature on future skills, including those in other industries.” Then the team interviewed port experts and HR managers at different companies. Analysis was accompanied by World Economic Forum reports. “And then we applied the findings to the ports,” explains Küther. “The biggest challenge was ensuring a good fit. Is an assessment too general, or does it truly apply to our specific port context?” This process is ongoing and can be adapted as necessary.

Based on a maximum-impact scenario, the team then assessed which processes could be fully automated technically speaking and what a terminal might look like with consistent implementation. “We then broke this picture down to social factors, as not everything technically feasible is socially and ethically justifiable or viable in an existing ecosystem,” says Küther.
After that, the team analysed current job profiles and qualification content and drew from that the areas of expertise that will be necessary in the future. This phase lasted around a year and a half.

It is still unclear what the terminals of the future will actually look like, which is what BLG Managing Director Riedel views as the biggest challenge. “Automated terminals do exist, but they’re all so different in terms of design,” she says. “Generally speaking, job profiles are shifting from purely operational tasks towards management and planning – with a greater emphasis on IT skills.” Someone who operates machinery today will one day compile information, evaluate deviations and stabilise operations.

Riedel does not believe that automation will fully replace people. “People need to and should get systems up and running,” she emphasises. Automation and digitalisation improve planning and efficiency at the terminals. “For us as an employer, it’s about working with people, not against them, and creating the conditions that will allow them to fulfil their roles safely.”

Training scenarios are implemented, monitored and managed at the control station.

Learning at the digital test and training centre

“We developed the necessary training scenarios in the next project phase,” explains Küther. The aim was to develop for a pilot stage the IT landscape and the physical equipment for a digital test and training centre (DTTC) in a space measuring around 150 square metres at HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA). “Because we’re still in the required pilot phase, only the project partners HHLA, BLG and EUROGATE are currently using it to validate training scenarios.”

Following completion of the project at the end of 2025, it should also be available to all other participants in the maritime sector. “We’re planning marketability for the second quarter of 2026,” explains Küther. Target groups include the staff at German port companies, but will one day be extended to schools, vocational training, the Employment Agency, job centres and other participants in the maritime sector.

“We visualise processes with virtual reality technology and computer simulations in order to teach work processes – even across multiple functions,” explains Küther. For that, the DTTC offers 3D training simulations with augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) equipment, as well as video walls, control stations and units, and both digital and physical access. One special feature is the VR treadmill on a movable platform, on which users can move around safely in the virtual world. Plus, there is the remote simulator by Liebherr, which enables preparatory training courses in a controlled simulation room – and is gaining relevance, as both HHLA at CTA in Hamburg and EUROGATE in Wilhelmshaven have already introduced the first remote-controlled container bridges in Germany.

Networked learning in the virtual space brings together fields and job profiles in the port industry.

But the DTTC will provide the opportunity to develop and expand on more than just future areas of expertise like technical knowledge, IT skills, and methodological and social competences. “What’s especially in high demand are soft skills like problem solving, an openness to change, resilience and communication skills,” says Küther. “And you can improve those there, too.”

New career paths can also be tested at the training centre. Riedel has observed that “it’s often technical employees with many years of experience who are unaware of the career steps available to them”. “Our digital test and training centre minimises obstacles and reduces reluctance because there’s no need to be afraid of doing something wrong or damaging something there. Here, employees have the opportunity to try new things in a safe environment. And if you make a mistake, simply push Reset.”

The centre is also suitable for recruiting young talent. “Many people have outdated ideas in their head. Here, we visualise the port of the future and highlight the appeal of modern technology,” says Riedel. With technology and tasks changing so quickly, the learning content is continuously expanding. But there is one thing that she thinks will never change: “People are better than machines at managing people.” (cb)