Speed optimizations for liner networks with business constraints

Abstract

In 2018 the International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreed to cut the shipping sector’s overall CO2 output by 50% by 2050. One of the key methods in reaching this goal is to improve operations to limit fuel consumption. However, it is difficult to optimize speed for a complete liner shipping network as routes interact with each other, and several business constraints must be respected. This paper presents a unified model for speed optimization of a liner shipping network, satisfying numerous real-life business constraints. The speed optimization is in this research achieved by rescheduling the port call times of a network, thus, the network is not changed. The business constraints are among others related to transit times, port work shifts and emission control areas. Other restrictions are fixed times for canal crossing, speed restrictions in the piracy areas and desire for robust solutions. Vessel sharing agreements and other collaboration between companies must also be included. The modeling of the different restrictions is described in detail and tested on real-life data. The scientific contribution of this paper is threefold: We present a unified model for speed optimization together with numerous business constraints. We present a general framework for handling routes with different frequencies. Moreover, we present a bi-objective model for balancing robustness of schedules against fuel consumption. The tests show that the real-life requirements can be handled by mixed integer programming and that the model finds significant reductions of bunker consumption and cost for large-scale real-life instances.