Adding a new cargo type to a terminal can look like a commercial decision. The operator identifies additional demand, expands its service portfolio and begins accepting cargo that previously moved through another facility. Operationally, however, the change can reach much further.
A terminal originally designed around containers already has a relatively standardized object of control. Containers have internationally recognized identifiers, predictable dimensions and established handling, stacking and transport processes.
General cargo, project cargo and Ro-Ro introduce very different requirements. Cargo may no longer be stackable. Its dimensions can vary significantly. Vehicles need individual positioning and damage inspection. Project cargo may require specialized lifting arrangements. Equipment and labour requirements become less predictable. Documentation changes. Yard planning changes. Even the data model inside the Terminal Operating System may need to change.
This transition is currently visible in Angola.
SOGESTER, historically associated primarily with container operations, has been expanding its portfolio into general cargo and Ro-Ro, including vehicles, project cargo and machinery. In 2026, the company described this diversification as a structural transformation of its operational, technical and organizational model rather than simply the addition of another commercial service.
The example illustrates an important principle for multipurpose terminals: cargo diversification adds another workflow, but also, it can change how the entire terminal has to operate.
SOGESTER: From Container Operations to a Broader Cargo Model
SOGESTER has operated in Angola since 2007 and has traditionally been strongly associated with container handling and logistics services. That operating model is now becoming broader.
The company has publicly announced the addition of General Cargo and Ro-Ro operations to its service portfolio, while its new long-term concession agreement with the Port of Luanda covers containers, automobiles/Ro-Ro and general cargo. The new concession is due to run from November 2027 to November 2047, with an option for a further ten-year extension.
This is therefore more than a temporary response to an individual shipment: multi-cargo capability is becoming part of SOGESTER’s longer-term operating model. The company’s modernization plans reflect the same direction. SOGESTER has described infrastructure development aimed at a hybrid handling model combining mobile harbour cranes with STS equipment and the gradual introduction of RTG operations, while positioning itself increasingly as a multipurpose terminal operator.
Infrastructure however is only one part of this transformation. In SOGESTER’s own description of the operational challenge, diversification into general cargo and Ro-Ro required changes to equipment, workforce skills, safety procedures, terminal layouts, yard planning, documentation and the TOS itself. That list shows how deeply cargo type is embedded in terminal operations.
A Container Terminal Starts with a Highly Standardized Cargo Unit
Containers create complexity, but they also provide a high degree of standardization. A terminal can identify a container through its container number and maintain information such as size, type, weight, status, shipping line, vessel, booking and current yard position.
The physical storage model is also highly structured. Containers can be stacked in defined slots and blocks. Yard cranes, reach stackers, terminal tractors and other equipment operate around relatively predictable unit dimensions. Vessel and yard planning are based on standardized transport units.
This does not make container operations simple. A high-volume container terminal can involve thousands of tightly interconnected moves, vessel connections, yard decisions and equipment tasks. But the object being moved is predictable.
When the same terminal begins handling cargo that does not share those characteristics, many assumptions built into the original operating model stop working.
General Cargo Changes the Object of Control
General cargo is much less standardized: one shipment may consist of pallets while another may contain steel structures, machinery, pipes, timber, bags, crates or oversized industrial equipment. Cargo units can differ in weight, dimensions, packaging, stacking restrictions and compatibility with nearby goods. The terminal therefore needs a more flexible identification and storage model.
Instead of asking only, “Which yard slot should this standardized unit occupy?” planners may need to consider whether a particular cargo unit can be stacked at all, what surface area it requires, whether nearby cargo is compatible, what equipment can move it and how easily it must be accessed for the next operation.
Solvo.TOS, for example, supports individual or grouped general-cargo records and allows handling and storage rules to use parameters such as weight, dimensions, packaging, compatibility and planned dispatch.
This illustrates a broader point: when a container terminal adds general cargo, yard capacity stops being described only through container slots and TEU density. Parts of the terminal may need to become flexible storage areas whose capacity depends on the actual physical characteristics of the cargo currently inside them.
Project Cargo Makes Planning Even Less Predictable
Project and oversized cargo push this variability further. A large machine, industrial component or Out of Gauge unit may require dedicated storage space, special lifting accessories, particular equipment combinations or a carefully planned movement route through the terminal.
Accommodating non-standard cargo requires prepared berths, flexible operational layouts and specialized lifting and lashing accessories. Equipment originally selected for container operations — including reach stackers, forklifts and terminal tractors — may still be useful, but additional attachments and revised equipment-management practices become necessary.
This changes planning at several levels simultaneously. The question is no longer simply whether equipment is available but also whether the right equipment configuration is available. Storage is no longer simply about finding free space as well: the cargo may require a particular zone, sufficient clearance and an accessible transport route.
Handling time becomes harder to estimate, too, because two general-cargo units classified within the same broad category may require completely different operations.
Ro-Ro Turns the Yard into a Vehicle Operation
Ro-Ro introduces another fundamentally different model. A passenger car, truck or piece of self-propelled machinery is not handled like a container, as it may drive through the terminal rather than being lifted. It usually remains individually identifiable throughout the process, often through the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), and it requires parking rather than stacking. And, moreover, because physical condition matters commercially, inspection and damage records become an important part of the cargo history.
This is one of the areas requiring adaptation of both the TOS and administrative processes. Vehicles need to be registered through identifiers such as VIN, while machinery may use serial numbers or other references. Yard and document processes then have to follow these different identification models.
The physical space requirement changes as well. Vehicles and machinery are generally non-stackable, occupy relatively large areas and need driving routes between parking positions, inspection areas and vessel operations. A container yard can increase storage density vertically, but a Ro-Ro yard cannot apply the same principle. The result is a different relationship between cargo volume and land consumption.
Inspection Becomes Part of Terminal Execution
Ro-Ro also introduces a process that is less prominent in conventional container handling: detailed cargo-condition inspection.
A vehicle may arrive with existing damage. Additional damage may occur during storage, movement, loading or discharge, so the terminal may later need to determine when the damage appeared and which party was responsible. This diversification increases the complexity of damage-claim management.
Digital workflows can therefore connect cargo identification with inspection data. In Solvo.TOS, Ro-Ro operations can use VIN-based records, while the Solvo.Tally and Solvo.Survey mobile applications support vehicle acceptance, positioning, inspection, photographs and damage registration in field operations.
This changes the role of mobile execution. A field employee is no longer simply confirming that cargo has moved from point A to point B. The operation may simultaneously create evidence about what cargo arrived, what condition it was in, where it was positioned and what happened to it during the process.
Equipment Requirements Change — Even When the Equipment Does Not
Cargo diversification does not necessarily mean replacing the terminal’s entire equipment fleet. Often the challenge is more subtle: existing equipment may still be usable, but the way it is configured, allocated and maintained changes. For example, reach stackers, forklifts and terminal tractors already familiar from container operations remain relevant, but general cargo and Ro-Ro require specific lifting and securing accessories as well as changes to maintenance and equipment-management plans.
This creates a more complex resource-planning problem. In a mostly standardized container environment, equipment can often be assigned according to relatively stable categories of work. In a diversified terminal, planners increasingly need to consider the characteristics of the individual operation. The required resource may depend on cargo weight, dimensions, lifting points, transport method or loading sequence.
As a result, equipment availability alone is not enough, as the system needs to understand which resource is suitable for which operation.
Workforce Planning Changes with Cargo Technology
The same applies to people. Adding cargo categories changes the skills required on the terminal floor. There might appear additional requirements for stowage, lashing and unlashing, driving and positioning of vehicles and equipment, as well as stronger safety procedures around interactions between people and machinery. Training programs, standard operating procedures, internal traffic plans and segregation of operating areas therefore become more important.
This is significant because multi-cargo operations make personnel planning more closely connected with cargo planning. A team prepared for one process may not automatically be qualified for another, while a particular vessel operation may require employees with specific skills. Non-standard cargo may require additional supervision or a different sequence of work. Planning therefore has to consider both how many people are available and what those people are qualified to do.
Productivity Becomes Less Uniform
Container terminals often work with highly developed productivity measures. Crane moves per hour, truck turnaround time, berth productivity and yard-equipment performance can all be compared across relatively standardized operations.
Multi-cargo environments are harder to normalize. General cargo and Ro-Ro can involve greater time variability, lower predictability and different hourly productivity levels than container operations. Therefore, productivity needs to be understood against the technology of the operation: moving twenty identical containers is not comparable to handling twenty pieces of oversized machinery. A terminal may therefore need several performance models rather than one universal productivity target.
This also affects shift planning. Expected workload has to consider not only the number of units but the work content behind those units.
Documentation Cannot Remain Container-Centric
Physical handling is only half the transformation: the information model changes as well.
- Container processes rely heavily on established identifiers and shipping documents.
- Ro-Ro may revolve around VINs, vehicle models, condition records and damage documentation.
- General cargo may be recorded individually, in lots or through grouped cargo units and may require dimensions, packaging descriptions, weight, marks and numbers, owner information or other attributes.
- Project cargo can introduce additional technical and handling documentation.
Commercial rules may differ by cargo type as well. A service charged per container cannot simply be reused for cargo billed by weight, volume, unit, storage area, handling operation or equipment time.
A multipurpose terminal therefore needs to preserve the relationship between physical execution and the correct commercial and documentary model for each cargo category.
Different Cargo Logic, Shared Terminal Resources
This is the fundamental architecture of a multipurpose operation: cargo models can remain different while common operational resources remain connected.
A general cargo unit and a vehicle do not need the same identification logic, but both may use the same berth, and they may require the same forklift or terminal tractor. They may pass through the same gate. Their operations may be performed by overlapping personnel. Their storage requirements may compete for the same physical area, and their vessel schedules may affect each other.
The TOS therefore needs to work at two levels simultaneously.
- At cargo level, it preserves the specific rules required for the individual cargo flow.
- At terminal level, it allows planners to understand shared workload, space, equipment, personnel and transport fronts.
This is what prevents diversification from turning the terminal into several separate digital islands.
SOGESTER and Solvo.TOS: A System That Had to Evolve with the Operation
This principle is particularly relevant to the Solvo–SOGESTER relationship.
Solvo.TOS was originally introduced into SOGESTER’s Angolan terminal network as the company sought to replace fragmented operational and documentation systems with a more unified digital environment. The first deployment took place at Namibe in 2020, where the system supported container and general cargo operations as well as vessel, rail and equipment-related workflows. By November 2024, Solvo.TOS had functionality for Ro-Ro cargo as well as mobile tools for vehicle acceptance, positioning and inspection.
This makes the project an interesting example of a wider technology requirement. The value of a TOS lies both in how well it automates the terminal configuration that exists on implementation day and whether the system can evolve when the operator changes its business.
Cargo may even change its operational form during the logistics process — for example, general cargo may subsequently be containerized, or Ro-Ro cargo may involve goods carried on MAFI trailers. Solvo.TOS supports such cargo-specific and reclassification scenarios within the same platform. That flexibility becomes strategically important when cargo diversification itself is part of the terminal’s development plan.
How Solvo.TOS Supports Multi-Cargo Terminal Operations
Solvo.TOS is designed to support containers, general cargo, bulk and Ro-Ro within the same terminal environment while allowing each cargo category to retain its own accounting and processing model.
- For container operations, the system works with unit-level container records and structured yard positions.
- For general cargo, it can maintain individual or grouped cargo units with parameters such as dimensions, weight, packaging and storage requirements and apply cargo-specific placement and handling rules.
- For Ro-Ro, vehicles and equipment can be registered through VIN and other relevant identifiers, positioned individually and connected with inspection and damage records.
These cargo models can then share the wider terminal operating layer: vessel and berth processes, storage topology, handling equipment, workforce tasks, gates, rail and truck operations, documentation, billing and operational reporting.
The result is one operational environment containing several different workflows.
Multi-Cargo Means Multi-Logic
SOGESTER’s transition in Angola demonstrates why cargo diversification deserves to be treated as an operating-model change.
A container terminal already has infrastructure, equipment, personnel and software, but adding general cargo and Ro-Ro changes the assumptions behind all four. And the TOS has to understand cargo that no longer behaves like a standardized box.
For SOGESTER, this diversification is also becoming part of the company’s longer-term strategy. Its new Luanda concession includes containers, general cargo and automobiles/Ro-Ro, while current modernization plans are intended to strengthen its position as a multipurpose operator.
