The operator Nos and the Administration of the Ports of Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo (APDL) announce this Thursday that Leixões is the first port in the country to use 5G. In a statement, the two entities said that the Port of Leixões is “fully covered with the operator’s fifth generation of mobile networks”, which can “provide improvements in terms of information, efficiency and security in the management of this important national infrastructure.”

Since 2019, Matosinhos has been the target of several projects with 5G. In this case, in Leixões, 5G will be used to allow APDL to monitor complex operations at the port in real time.

“With these remote monitoring means, both the operations center and the ship’s pilots can follow a set of higher risk maneuvers, while increasing the capacity to carry out on-site inspections, with greater frequency, flexibility and safety, as well as allowing a fundamental support in the management of response and mitigation in case of incidents”, exemplifies the statement of the two entities. In addition to transmitting images, these drones will also feature environmental, noise and air quality sensors, capable of measuring the impacts of each operation in real time and directly on site.

“5G, as a fundamental part of what industry 4.0 is, allows us to define the future of the company in the most diverse sectors. To the solutions based on 5G that we are implementing, Graças de Leixões, one of the most relevant infrastructures to strengthen its competitive position, not only in the Iberian context but also in Europe”, indicates Manuel Ramalho Eanes, Executive Director of Nos, quoted in a statement.

Nuno Araújo, president of the Board of Directors of APDL, says that “technology is probably the most relevant factor for an infrastructure like ours.” “We intend to carry out our operations as quickly as possible, safer and more efficiently.” For this responsible, the use of technologies such as 5G is seen as “absolutely critical”.