Daily box counts, block by block.
Container Counting counts the boxes stacked on your quay and in your yard from very-high-resolution imagery, so you read throughput before the port publishes its own figure.
Spec
- GSD
- VHR, 0.5 m or finer
- Cadence
- Daily
- Platform
- VHR satellite or aerial
- Spectral
- RGB
- Formats
- CSV, map layer
- Delivery unit
- Box count per yard block and bay
The files
One count per block and bay from each clear daylight pass, in formats your spreadsheet or GIS already opens.
| File | Format | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
| Box count per block and bay | CSV | One row per block and bay for each pass: the pass date, the block and bay, and the boxes counted there. It loads into the workbook or BI view where your utilisation series already lives. |
| Count layer | Map layer | The same counts drawn on your yard blocks, so you can see which parts of the terminal are full and which are running empty. It opens in the GIS that holds your berth and yard layers. |
| Change flags | CSV column | A flag on each block that has grown or emptied since the previous clear pass, so the blocks worth a second look are the first thing you see when you open the file. |
| Reefer rows where visible | CSV column | Reefer stacks are laid out differently from dry stacks, and where they can be seen from overhead they are flagged. It is a visual flag and does not come from a manifest. |
| Pass note | Text | The date of the pass behind each count, and any block the pass did not see clearly, so a number is never read as fresher than it is. |
How it works
01Once, at the start
Supply the terminal
The terminal boundary and its yard blocks, as a boundary file or a yard plan we can mark up with you. Tell us which blocks and bays you report by.
02Every clear day
Daily pass
Very-high-resolution satellite or aerial imagery over the terminal, captured in daylight.
03Each pass
Count
Boxes are detected and segmented, then counted per block and bay against the layout you supplied.
04Each pass
Delivery
The CSV and the map layer for that pass, with the change flags and the pass note, sent to you each day a count exists.
Limits
- Cloud and night
- The imagery is optical and taken in daylight. A cloudy day is skipped, and the last clear count stands until the next one. We do not estimate a count for a day the yard was not seen.
- Resolution sets the floor
- At 0.5 m or finer a box is a few pixels wide and many pixels long, enough to count as a box and to tell blocks apart. Pallets, lashing and container markings are out of reach at this resolution, and the gap between two boxes in a row can close up in the image.
- The top of the stack is what the camera sees
- From overhead the top tier is visible and the tiers below are not. The count is a footprint-based proxy for the yard, and it is not a read of the terminal operating system.
- No split by box size
- The deliverable is a count of boxes. It does not come split by box size, and nothing here is read off a manifest.
- Daily is the target
- Cadence is daily where the sky is clear. We do not promise a delivery hour, and we do not offer a faster cadence.
Why this exists
The port publishes monthly TEU figures after the month has closed, and AIS tells you which ships called but nothing about how much is stacked behind the quay. So utilisation gets guessed from vessel calls and last month's number. The miss shows up as a congested yard when the next big call is already planned. A daily box count by block gives the weekly capacity meeting something to look at in between releases.
Who it's for
Built for
- Terminal capacity analysts at a container shipping line who want a same-week yard read alongside AIS.
- Planning analysts at a port authority who need utilisation by block before the official throughput release.
- Teams that take a CSV or a map layer into their own model or dashboard.
Not built for
- Replacing the port's official TEU statistics or a terminal operating system.
- Reading box contents, cargo type or the order of moves in the yard.
- Gate moves, crane productivity or anything about what happens on a particular day inside the terminal.
Questions from analysts
Does it match the port's published TEU figures?
It counts what the imagery shows, a footprint-based proxy, and does not reproduce the port's statistic. Hold it against the published figure once a month for a few months and see how the two move together.
What happens on a cloudy day?
That day has no count. The last clear count stands, and the pass note says how old it is.
Is there a split by twenty-foot and forty-foot?
Not as a deliverable. The count is of boxes per block and bay, and nothing is read off a manifest.
Does it count reefers separately?
Reefer stacks look different from above, and where they are visible they are flagged. The flag is visual and is not guaranteed.
How do we check a count against our own data?
Compare the block counts with a terminal operating system extract or a yard inventory for the same day. If a block looks wrong, send it back and we will go through that pass with you.
Can we load it into our own tools?
You get a CSV and a map layer. There is no direct connection to a terminal operating system, and the CSV loads into anything that takes CSV.
Who owns the counts, and can we share them?
Your terminal boundary and block layout stay yours. The rights to the counts and to the imagery behind them are written into the project agreement before the first pass runs.
How is it priced?
It depends on how many terminals and blocks you need covered and for how long, so we quote after we have seen the terminals. There is no price list on this page.
Send us the terminal and the blocks you report by.
Tell us which terminals you need counted and how you split the yard. We will scope the daily run from there.