As massive cargo ships navigate into Ningbo-Zhoushan Port—the world's busiest port by cargo throughput—their efficient clearance is quietly powered by artificial intelligence. The port recently announced the successful localized deployment of the domestic AI model DeepSeek in its smart gate system, marking its official entry into the Smart Gate 4.0 era. This upgrade not only significantly enhances operational efficiency but also establishes a new benchmark for AI models empowering physical industries.
DeepSeek's Contribution: A Quantum Leap in Port Efficiency
DeepSeek, a rising star in China's AI sector, has drawn global attention since open-sourcing its R1 inference model, known for its low-cost, high-performance advantages. The port's IT team capitalized on this opportunity during the Spring Festival, completing the localized deployment through intensive efforts. By integrating DeepSeek's multimodal analysis capabilities (supporting image, text, and other data processing) with deep learning algorithms, the Smart Gate 4.0 system achieved simultaneous intelligent recognition of vehicle numbers, container numbers, and seal numbers, dramatically improving identification efficiency and accuracy.
After implementing the DeepSeek model, computational resource consumption for intelligent recognition services decreased substantially, enabling the system to handle more tasks per unit time and significantly boosting throughput capacity. More importantly, both image recognition accuracy and response speed now rank among the industry's best. Port imaging experts noted that DeepSeek's introduction represents not just an efficiency breakthrough but also establishes a new paradigm for AI models empowering physical industries, offering valuable insights for other sectors' intelligent upgrades.
Smart Gate 4.0: Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Upgrade
This system upgrade represents not merely technical iteration but a comprehensive transformation across three dimensions: service architecture, functional modules, and monitoring systems.
- Service Architecture Upgrade: The new framework employs advanced web-based seamless update technology, eliminating traditional maintenance downtime. Users no longer need manual updates or client installations, ensuring uninterrupted port operations.
- Functional Module Upgrade: The system now includes intelligent seal number recognition, combining multiple small models with DeepSeek's multimodal capabilities. This innovation achieves over 80% recognition accuracy across various conditions, quadrupling single-post management capacity. What previously required four personnel can now be handled by one operator via visual dashboards, dramatically reducing manual verification time and labor costs.
- Intelligent Monitoring Upgrade: The enhanced system functions as a "digital sentry," introducing gate status alerts, log warnings, and alarm notifications. It provides comprehensive real-time monitoring of gate equipment, programs, and algorithms, issuing alerts within 30 minutes of anomalies—significantly reducing fault response time while improving passage efficiency and operational safety.
Operational Results: Processing Over 20,000 TEUs Daily
The Smart Gate 4.0 system has been fully implemented across multiple terminal companies within Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, including Meidong, Yongzhou, and Beilun Terminals. Current data shows the system processes over 20,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) daily, substantially enhancing the port's throughput capacity and operational efficiency.
Future Vision: Building an "AI+Terminal Operations" Smart Ecosystem
The advent of Smart Gate 4.0 not only elevates port efficiency but heralds a new chapter in intelligent port development. Looking ahead, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port plans to deepen collaboration with AI enterprises like DeepSeek, exploring applications in intelligent cargo management, gantry crane automation, smart security, and lock station operations. The port aims to create a comprehensive "AI+terminal operations" ecosystem, advancing from isolated smart applications to holistic intelligent systems, contributing Chinese expertise to global port digital transformation.