Distribution-Free Approaches for an Integrated Cargo Routing and Empty Container Repositioning Problem with Repacking Operations in Liner Shipping Networks

Abstract

Cargo (laden container) routing and empty container repositioning are crucial components in liner shipping, which are closely relevant. However, most existing works focus on cargo routing and empty container repositioning separately, which cannot optimize the global shipping cost. In addition, (1) appropriate repacking operations for laden containers can curtail the total handling costs, and (2) the perfect information for uncertain laden and empty container demands may be difficult to obtain due to insufficient historical data. This work investigates an integrated cargo routing and empty container repositioning problem with repacking operations in which only partial information about uncertain laden and empty container demands is known. The objective is to minimize the total costs including repacking operation cost and laden and empty container transportation costs. For the problem, a new chance-constrained programming model based on moment-based ambiguous sets is formulated. Then, four distribution-free solution approaches are adopted to solve the investigated problem. Numerical experiments are conducted to compare the proposed methods.