Container Transshipment Research Articles

Migrating Birds Optimization for the Seaside Problems at Maritime Container Terminals

Sea freight transportation involves moving huge amounts of freights among maritime locations widely spaced by means of container vessels. The time required to serve container vessels is the most relevant indicator when assessing the competitiveness of a maritime container terminal. In this paper, two main logistic problems stemming from the transshipment of containers in the seaside of a maritime container terminal are addressed, namely, the Berth Allocation Problem aimed at allocating and scheduling incoming vessels into berthing positions along the quay and the Quay Crane Scheduling Problem, whose objective is to schedule the loading and unloading tasks associated with a container vessel. For solving them, two Migrating Birds Optimization (MBO) approaches are proposed. The MBO is a recently proposed nature-inspired algorithm based on theV-formation flight of migrating birds. In this algorithm, a set of solutions of the problem at hand, called birds, cooperate among themselves during the search process by sharing information within aV-line formation. The computational experiments performed over well-known problem instances reported in the literature show that the performance of our proposed MBO approaches is highly competitive and presents a better performance in terms of running time than the best approximate approach proposed in the literature.

Prediction of late/early arrivals in container terminals – A qualitative approach

Vessel arrival uncertainty in ports has become a very common problem worldwide. Although ship operators have to notify the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) at predetermined time intervals, they frequently have to update the latest ETA due to unforeseen circumstances. This causes a series of inconveniences that often impact on the efficiency of terminal operations, especially in the daily planning scenario. Thus, for our study we adopted a machine learning approach in order to provide a qualitative estimate of the vessel delay/advance and to help mitigate the consequences of late/early arrivals in port. Using data on delays/advances at the individual vessel level, a comparative study between two transshipment container terminals is presented and the performance of three algorithmic models is evaluated. Results of the research indicate that when the distribution of the outcome is bimodal the performance of the discrete models is highly relevant for acquiring data characteristics. Therefore, the models are not flexible in representing data when the outcome distribution exhibits unimodal behavior. Moreover, graphical visualisation of the importance-plots made it possible to underline the most significant variables which might explain vessel arrival uncertainty at the two European ports.

Tactical berth and yard template design at container transshipment terminals: A column generation based approach

Quay-side berthing congestion is an emerging challenging issue that arises in busy container transshipment terminals and calls for effective management of terminal operations. This paper tackles the berthing congestion problem by introducing a proactive management strategy from the terminal’s perspective that adjusts the calling schedule of feeder vessels in such a way that the quay-side workload distribution in the temporal dimension can be balanced. Such a schedule template design problem is considered simultaneously with another two tactical level decision problems, berth template design (i.e., determining preferred berthing positions for vessels) and yard template design (i.e., allocating storage yard space to transshipment flows). This highly integrated problem is formulated as a set covering model. Heuristic methods based on column generation are developed to obtain near-optimal solutions in an efficient way. Computational experiments on real-world sized test instances demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

An integrated model for ship routing with transshipment and berth allocation

This article studies a decision problem faced by short sea shipping companies that operate both container vessels and container terminals. The problem is to jointly decide container ship routing, berth allocation at the terminals, as well as transshipment of containers to minimize the overall operating cost. The problem is formulated as an integer programming model and an iterative decomposition heuristic method is proposed for the solution of this complex problem. Computational experiments are conducted on problem instances that simulate the practice of a feeder service company operating around the Pearl River Delta region. Results show that integrating the decisions on ship routing, berth allocation, and transshipment of containers can achieve significant benefit compared with traditional approaches in which sequential and independent decisions are made.

Simulation-based optimization for housekeeping in a container transshipment terminal

An important activity in container transshipment terminals consists in transferring containers in the yard from their current temporary positions to different positions closer to the point along the berth from which the containers will be boarded on departing vessels. This housekeeping process aims at speeding-up discharge and loading operations and, thus, relieving congestion. This paper introduces a heuristic procedure to manage the routing of multi-trailer systems and straddle carriers in a maritime terminal. A simulation model embedded in a local search heuristic allows a proper evaluation of the impact of different vehicle schedules on congestion and throughput. Computational experiments performed on test instances derived from real-life data show that important improvements in routing distance and vehicle waiting time can be obtained compared to the use of standard scheduling policies.

Biased random key genetic algorithm for the Tactical Berth Allocation Problem

The Tactical Berth Allocation Problem (TBAP) aims to allocate incoming ships to berthing positions and assign quay crane profiles to them (i.e. number of quay cranes per time step). The goals of the TBAP are both the minimization of the housekeeping costs derived from the transshipment container flows between ships, and the maximization of the total value of the quay crane profiles assigned to the ships. In order to obtain good quality solutions with considerably short computational effort, this paper proposes a biased random key genetic algorithm for solving this problem. The computational experiments and the comparison with other solutions approaches presented in the related literature for tackling the TBAP show that the proposed algorithm is applicable to efficiently solve this difficult and essential container terminal problem. The problem instances used in this paper are composed of both, those reported in the literature and a new benchmark suite proposed in this work for taking into consideration other realistic scenarios.

Technical change and bias in the container shipping industry in Taiwan

The aim of this paper is to explore the sources of technical change and the associated technical change biases for the container shipping industry. A translog cost function is formatted to measure the magnitude of the rates of technical change (RTCs) for three Taiwanese container shipping lines. On average, the annual RTCs of the three shipping lines are all less than 0.1% over different sample periods and show fairly trivial technological improvements in cost reduction. By decomposing the RTCs into their sources, the results further suggest that the technical change should focus on improving the operational efficiency with respect to reducing the cost of marketing, organisational and managerial activities, and to efficiently organise the service network for the transshipment of containers. In the meantime, the existence of significantly negative scale economies strongly implies that the deployment of too much slot capacity and the transportation of too few cargo shipments transported by the shipping lines have resulted in considerable cost inefficiency. As to the technical change bias, the results indicate that the bias has shifted the utilisation of factor inputs toward labour, fuel-saving and intermediate material-using patterns.

A Lagrangian lower bound for the container transshipment problem at a railway hub for a fast branch-and-bound algorithm

In this paper, we consider the container transshipment problem at a railway hub. A simple lower bound known for this problem will be improved by a new Lagrangian relaxation lower bound. Computational tests show that this lower bound outperforms the simple one and decreases substantially the run time of the branch-and-bound algorithm.

Real-time container storage location assignment at an RTG-based seaport container transshipment terminal: problem description, control system, simulation model, and penalty scheme experimentation

We show how the overall productivity of an RTG-based seaport container terminal depends on the system used for automatically selecting storage locations for export containers in real time as they enter the terminal. Several real-time container storage systems are proposed and evaluated by a fully-integrated, discrete event simulation model of a vessel-to-vessel transshipment terminal. In this study, we introduce the problem; present a system for making real-time container storage decisions; describe the simulation model used for experimentation; and describe an experiment that illustrates some of the main trade-offs involved in container storage decisions.

Container transshipment and port competition

The purpose of this paper is to study container port competition for transshipment cargo in duopoly market. We develop the linear container handling demand function which incorporates transshipment traffic, and apply a non-cooperative two-stage game to a vertical-structure seaport market with ports as upstream players and shipping lines as downstream players. The drivers behind port competition are explained through existence of the unique Nash equilibrium which incorporates shipping lines’ port call decisions and ports’ pricing strategies. A port collusion model and social optimum model are then analysed for further insights, and a numerical simulation is conducted to demonstrate the results.

The Influences of Globalization on Container Port Capabilities and Transshipment Traffic Volumes

The Influences of Globalization on Container Port Capabilities and Transshipment Traffic Volumes

Analysis on container port capacity: a Markovian modeling approach

Container ports handle outbound, inbound, and transshipment containers plying between the area for vessels on the quay and the storage space in the yard. Port operators typically concentrate their efforts on the container handling process with the aims of increasing the productivity of quay-side operations and reducing the time in port of vessels. Recognizing that operation processes necessitate containers to stay in the storage space for a certain period before moving to other areas, the operational efficiency at the yard (in addition to that at the quayside) plays an influential role in ensuring performance measures of a container port. This study develops analytical models based on the Markov chain to estimate the port capacity under various combinations of resources, namely, quay cranes, yard cranes, and prime movers. Important performance measures representing the capacity in the proposed models are analyzed and sensitivity analyses of the port capacity are conducted through numerical experiments. The results under the suggested operational strategies are also compared.

Systematic Network Design for Liner Shipping Services

A systematic design for a liner shipping network was addressed. Many practical features in real-world operations, including multiple types of containers, container transshipment operations, empty container repositioning, origin-to-destination transit time constraints, consistent services with the current network, and joint services with other liner shipping companies, were considered. Given a set of candidate ship routes, some of these routes had to be used, and the use of others was optional. A mixed-integer linear programming model was proposed for the selection of optional ship routes. The solution of this model provided the laden and empty container flow on the selected ship routes. On the basis of the results of this model, techniques were proposed for refining ship routes by changing existing routes, designing new routes, and removing some routes. A large-scale numerical test based on the global shipping network of a liner shipping company, consisting of 166 ports, was performed.

ヤードスペースの利用効率を目的としたコンテナ最適配置

In order to use the yard space efficiently, the authors address the container storage arrangement for transshipment containers with the container flow between multiple ships. In this study, in order to consider the impact on yard space efficiency under various block size at the conventional layout, the authors set the minimization of both total service time and yard space utilization as a multi-objective function. This problem is formulated as a mixed integer programming, and the authors re-arrange the basic multiple objective tabu search (MOTS) proposed by Hansen (1997) in order to obtain the solutions. From the computational results, it is clear that our model can obtain the service time and the yard space use in each block size which depend on ship arrival pattern and ship berthing location pattern, and can also give the users some alternative proposal.

Port Competition in the International Transshipment Hub Sector, Busan and Shanghai

This paper aims to present which port located in the North-Asian region can best fulfill the role of a hub int’l/int’l container transshipment port. The port of Shanghai is compared to the port of Busan in terms of types of traffic, their infrastructures, nearby competition and geographic position in relation to the major international shipping routes. An overview of their function due to their respective economy is also addressed.

Feeder vessel management at container transshipment terminals

The feeder vessel management problem consists of designing preferred berthing positions and service time for cyclically visiting feeders, and allocating storage yard space to the transshipment flows between mother vessels and feeders. We consider the above three tactical decision problems simultaneously for a container transshipment terminal with an eye toward the quayside congestion and the housekeeping cost of container movements. The integrated problem is formulated as a mixed integer programming model and solved by a memetic heuristic approach. A comprehensive computational experiment is conducted to show the effectiveness of the heuristic and the improvement upon real-world terminal operations.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Implementing RFID System in Port of Kaohsiung

The largest port in Taiwan, Port of Kaohsiung port, has the geographic advantage in East Asia. More than one million of Transshipment containers export and import in Port of Kaohsiung each year. In order to reduce smuggling cases, Taiwan Customs requests all Transshipment containers should be escorted while transferring from carrier yard to the port terminal. Therefore, Taiwan government decides to replace manual escorts with RFID e-seal system to be more security and efficient. The new system can save the inspection time, the expenses for additional Customs, and the escort fee for liner companies. This paper presents a scenario analysis to evaluate the cost and benefit analysis (CBA) of implementing the RFID E-seal system in Port of Kaohsiung. This is the first study on Transshipment containers by implementing new technology. In order to achieve the purpose, this research establish cost-benefit model, and evaluate the CBA with proposed scenario. Finally, the cost-benefit ratio can be determined by the model and two scenarios analyses were concerned to evaluate the RFID system in the future. The result indicated that the implementation of RFID e-seal system does not significantly favor to the Customs although the overall benefits to the whole system is greater than the cost. The results of CBA can be beneficial to the different stakeholders in allocating the limited monetary resources.

Container routing in liner shipping

Container paths play an important role in liner shipping services with container transshipment operations. In the literature, link-based multi-commodity flow formulations are widely used for container routing. However, they have two deficiencies: the level of service in terms of the origin-to-destination transit time is not incorporated and maritime cabotage may be violated. To overcome these deficiencies, we first present an operational network representation of a liner shipping network. Based on the network, an integer linear programming model is formulated to obtain container paths with minimum cost. Finally, we add constraints to the integer linear programming model, excluding those paths already obtained, so as to find all the container paths.

An integrated model for resource allocation and scheduling in a transshipment container terminal

This paper considers the coordination between quay cranes and yard cranes in a transshipment process at a container terminal. An optimization model (a linear-integer program) is developed to minimize the number of cranes used in both the quay and yard sides. In addition, the developed model determines the optimal schedule for unloading a vessel and storing its transshipment containers in the yard as a function of the container location in ship bay, type of container (e.g., weight class, size, and next port of destination), and the yard sub-block allocated for every container. The model is solved using the GUROBI solver via AMPL compiler. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the application of the model and draw insights. Our main insight is that, under coordination between the quay and yard sides, constraints on one side may significantly affect the allocation and scheduling of cranes on the other side.

Short-term liner ship fleet planning with container transshipment and uncertain container shipment demand

This paper proposes a short-term liner ship fleet planning problem by taking into account container transshipment and uncertain container shipment demand. Given a liner shipping service network comprising a number of ship routes, the problem is to determine the numbers and types of ships required in the fleet and assign each of these ships to a particular ship route to maximize the expected value of the total profit over a short-term planning horizon. These decisions have to be made prior to knowing the exact container shipment demand, which is affected by some unpredictable and uncontrollable factors. This paper thus formulates this realistic short-term planning problem as a two-stage stochastic integer programming model. A solution algorithm, integrating the sample average approximation with a dual decomposition and Lagrangian relaxation approach, is then proposed. Finally, a numerical example is used to evaluate the performance of the proposed model and solution algorithm.