From the crane apex
to the harbour light
A port runs on wind decisions: when the cranes stop, when a ship can berth, when the pilot boards. Wind and weather sensing for container cranes, berths, yards and harbour approaches, and condition monitoring for the machinery that keeps the quay moving.
A quay that stops too early loses the berth window.
A quay that stops too late loses a container.
Every port works to wind limits. Cranes stop above one figure, berthing and mooring follow another, and the harbour master and pilots work to their own. Each limit is only as good as the reading it is compared against, and a port reads the wind in very different places: at the top of a crane, on the side of a ship, across an open container yard and at the harbour entrance.
Read the wind too low and the risk is physical. A swinging box under a crane, a ship pressed onto the fenders, empty containers lifted off a stack. A seized cup anemometer does not report a fault. It reports calm.
Read it too high and the cost is commercial. Idle cranes, a missed berth window and a ship that sails late cost a terminal money with every hour. A wind reading that operators trust is what lets them work right up to the limit, safely.
Salt, spray and constant vibration make the quayside one of the hardest places to keep an instrument working. Ultrasonic sensors have no bearings to corrode, ice or seize, and every output carries a status code, so a failed sensor announces itself instead of reading calm.
Where a port reads the wind
A port takes its wind decisions from the top of the cranes, the side of the ship, the container yard and the harbour entrance, and keeps its cranes moving by watching the machinery inside them. Each point below shows what is measured there and which sensing fits.
Crane wind at the apex
The crane stops on this reading. Mounted at the highest clear point, it sees the wind the boom and the load will see, not the wind sheltered by the structure below.
- WindObserver 75 0 to 75 m/s, heated 316 stainless steel open head, IP66
- WindSonic 60 0 to 60 m/s, 0.5 kg, WMO-compliant gust measurement
Boom tip over the ship
Out over the ship the wind is no longer sheltered by the quay or the stacks. A second sensor at the boom tip shows what the box is swinging in.
- WindSonic M heated hard-anodised aluminium, operating to -40 degrees C
- WindSonic 60 compact and light where weight on the boom matters
Hoist gearbox condition
Hoist and trolley gearboxes shed steel into the oil as they wear. Catching it early turns a crane failure in the middle of a ship call into a planned repair.
- WearDetect real-time ferrous wear debris monitoring from the oil
Ship and berth wind
Berthing and mooring limits depend on the wind on the ship as well as on the quay. On board, the sensor has to carry the approvals the vessel is built to.
- WindObserver 65 Lloyd’s Register type approved, 316 stainless steel
- MaxiMet GMX560 marine weather station with a 6-axis compass, IP66 and IP68
Yard cranes and stacks
An open container yard is exposed, and empty boxes stacked high catch the wind. Yard cranes need their own reading, not one borrowed from the quay.
- WindSonic 60 low power and light enough for a gantry crane
- MaxiMet GMX500 wind with temperature, humidity and pressure in one unit
Port weather station
One station that records the conditions the whole port is working in, for planning, for the log and for the evidence when an operation is questioned afterwards.
- MaxiMet GMX551 wind, temperature, humidity, pressure, solar radiation and rainfall in one unit
- MetConnect One separate sensors sited at the heights WMO practice expects
Harbour entrance and pilotage
The approach is where the wind decides whether a ship comes in at all. A breakwater or harbour light is exposed to everything, so the sensor has to be built for it.
- WindObserver 75 0 to 75 m/s, heated, for the most exposed position
- WindObserver 90 0 to 90 m/s where the extremes justify it
Tugs and pilot boats
Small craft work in the worst of the weather. A compact marine station gives the crew wind and weather corrected for the motion of the boat.
- MaxiMet GMX560 marine, 6-axis compass, IP66 and IP68
- WindSonic M heated, hard-anodised aluminium
The wind at the apex decides when the quay stops
A crane stops on the wind measured at the top of the crane, where nothing shelters it. WindObserver measures ultrasonically in a heated 316 stainless steel open head, from 0 to 75 m/s on the WindObserver 75, with no bearings for salt or ice to seize. WindSonic gives a lighter, lower-power option for the boom tip and for yard cranes.
Every reading carries a status code. A controller or operator display can tell a genuine calm from a failed sensor, which is the difference between stopping on time and not stopping at all.
A status code on every output, so a failed sensor cannot read calm
Explore WindObserverExplore WindSonicMarine-grade sensing for the water side of the port
On a vessel, specifications usually call for class approval. WindObserver 65, 70, 75 and 90 carry Lloyd’s Register type approval for marine use. For tugs, pilot boats and workboats, the MaxiMet GMX560 combines wind with temperature, humidity and pressure in one marine unit, with a 6-axis compass and IP66 and IP68 protection.
At the harbour entrance, a breakwater or light is exposed to everything the sea can throw at it. The WindObserver 75 and 90 are built for the most exposed positions.
Class-approved models for vessels, built for the most exposed positions ashore
Explore marine MaxiMetShip navigationCatch gearbox wear before it stops a ship call
Hoist, trolley and boom gearboxes shed fine steel into the oil as they wear, long before the wear becomes noise, vibration or failure. WearDetect captures that debris and reports it in real time, so maintenance can be planned around the berth schedule instead of forced by a breakdown in the middle of a ship call.
A wind record that stands up when an operation is questioned
When a box is dropped or a ship is damaged at the berth, the first question is what the wind was doing. A port weather station such as the MaxiMet GMX551 records the conditions the port was working in, and traceable calibration makes that record defensible.
Labcal, part of Gill Group, provides UKAS-accredited calibration (Lab 0625, ISO/IEC 17025:2017) for anemometers and other instruments from Gill and other manufacturers, so a port can bring its calibration under one schedule.
UKAS-accredited calibration through Labcal
Explore calibrationQuestions about port and harbour wind monitoring
There is no single figure. The wind limit for a ship-to-shore crane is set by the crane manufacturer and the terminal’s operating procedures, and it usually has separate thresholds for slowing, stopping work and securing the crane. What every limit has in common is that it depends on a wind measurement taken where the crane actually feels the wind, normally at the highest clear point of the structure.
A wind sensor on a container crane should be mounted at the highest point clear of the crane’s own structure, usually the apex or the top of the boom, so that it is not sheltered or disturbed by the steelwork around it. A second sensor at the boom tip shows the wind over the ship. In cold or icing conditions a heated sensor keeps the reading available.
A port weather station usually measures wind speed and direction, air temperature, humidity, pressure and rainfall, and sometimes solar radiation. Ports that need visibility add a dedicated visibility sensor. A compact station such as the MaxiMet GMX551 measures the core set in one unit, while a MetConnect station allows each sensor to be sited at its own height.
Many vessel specifications require marine class approval for wind sensors. WindObserver 65, 70, 75 and 90 carry Lloyd’s Register type approval. Shore installations such as cranes and breakwaters rarely need class approval, but they do need a sensor built to survive salt, spray and vibration, such as one with a 316 stainless steel head.
A port can monitor crane gearbox wear by measuring the ferrous debris in the gearbox oil. Gears and bearings shed fine steel particles as they wear, well before the wear is audible. WearDetect captures that debris and reports it in real time, so maintenance teams can see wear developing and plan the repair.
An ultrasonic anemometer measures wind from the time sound takes to cross a known path, so it has no bearings or rotating parts for salt, spray or ice to seize. A seized cup anemometer reports calm rather than a fault. An ultrasonic sensor also reports a status code with every reading, so a failure is visible to the operator.
Specifying sensing for a port or harbour?
Tell us the cranes, the berths and the exposure. We will tell you plainly what we would measure, where, and with which outputs and approvals.
We aim to respond in one working day.