Abstract
This paper provides an integrated planning methodology for the optimization of port rotation direction and fleet deployment for container liner shipping routes with consideration of demand uncertainty. We first consider a special case that demand is deterministic. A multicommodity flow network model is developed via minimizing the total network-wide cost. Its decisions are the selection of port rotation direction and fleet deployment and container routings in the shipping network. Afterward, we address the generic case that uncertain demand is considered, which is represented by potentially realizable demand scenarios. We develop a minimax regret model to procure the least maximum regret across all the demand scenarios. The proposed models are applied to an Asia-Europe-Oceania liner shipping network with 46 ports and 12 ship routes. Results could provide the liner company with a comprehensive decision tool to simultaneously determine port rotation direction and fleet deployment when tackling uncertain demand.
Highlights
Container transportation is a significant component of international transportation, which is vital to the sustainable development of international trade and global economy [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8], among many others
The liner company entails determining a set of efficient decisions so as to reduce the total operating cost. e decisions span the strategic, tactical, and operational stages, such as network design/alteration, fleet deployment, speed optimization, and schedule design [10]
The transit time and associated inventory cost of containers from origin to destination may be various, which will cause an effect on competitiveness and market share. erefore, the problem of determining port rotation direction and fleet deployment is not trivial especially when uncertain demand is taken into account
Summary
Container transportation is a significant component of international transportation, which is vital to the sustainable development of international trade and global economy [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8], among many others. A shipping network operated by a particular liner company involves a number of weekly serviced ship routes. E decisions span the strategic, tactical, and operational stages, such as network design/alteration, fleet deployment, speed optimization, and schedule design [10]. The liner company entails determining a set of efficient decisions so as to reduce the total operating cost. E alteration of port rotation direction of existing ship routes is one manner of network alteration. E liner company can benefit from economies of scale by deploying ships with large capacity. Uncertainty in demand complicates the analysis of the impact of port rotation direction and fleet deployment on the shipping network operation.
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