25.08.2026

A win for remote crane operation

Port operator DP World has won a Federal Court battle in Australia, allowing it to move crane operators out of the crane cabs and into a nearby office.

The case involved Ship-To-Shore cranes at its container terminal in the port of Fremantle, Western Australia. The hearing was the result of a dispute with the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union, which argued that DP’s proposal amounted to automation and therefore represented a breach of the terms of its agreement.

Its plan is similar to one it has already implemented for 22 cranes at the port of Busan in South Korea.

The crane operators would move to a nearby office building where they would continue to control the cranes manually using the same joysticks and controls as in the crane cab, supported by camera feeds and operator assistance technology. DP World was also clear that the change will not remove any roles as foremen or reduce the number of operators.

The judgment does not prevent any required consultation formalities with the operators over implementation, but it does limit the union’s ability to require DP World to treat the project as a full automation programme under the current agreement.

Vertikal Comment

Is this an indication that we are entering the drone age of crane operation?

It is certainly an interesting one and is perhaps a step /hurdle along the way towards more remote operator stations. It has already been mooted, tried and even implemented with tower cranes. In such cases, operators tend to be located in ground level site offices/cabins near the crane.

But it is not too big a step to imagine them located further away, where they might control more than one crane, especially given that cranes can often stand idle while waiting for the next lift or while a load is fully connected, etc….

At least one mobile crane manufacturer has also suggested it for truck or All Terrain cranes, however, that seems far off and a good deal less practical.