Fuzzy Chance-Constrained Programming for Optimal Containership Slot Exchange and Allocation in Liner Alliances

Abstract

Containership slot exchange is a new cooperation strategy allowing participating carriers to seek to benefit from sharing capacities. On the basis of analyzing the characteristics of containership slot exchange and allocation problem in short sea cycle routes operated by liner alliances, this paper considers the uncertainties in revenue and demand then proposes a fuzzy chance-constrained slot exchange and allocation optimization programming model. The model takes marginal revenues and demands of different markets in fuzzy environments as fuzzy variables and aims at maximizing the total revenue of the liner alliance which operates multi-routes. A numerical example is applied to attest the method’s practicability and feasibility. The conclusion suggests that in fuzzy environments, a proper containership slot exchange and allocation strategy can increase the total revenue of liner alliances significantly.