Berth Scheduling Problem Considering Traffic Limitations in the Navigation Channel

Ya Xu, Kelei Xue and Yuquan Du
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Ya Xu: Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Kelei Xue: Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Yuquan Du: National Centre for Ports and Shipping, Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania, Launceston TAS 7250, Australia

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-22

Abstract: In view of the trend of upsizing ships, the physical limitations of natural waterways, huge expenses, and unsustainable environmental impact of channel widening, this paper aims to provide a cost-efficient but applicable solution to improve the operational performance of container terminals that are enduring inefficiency caused by channel traffic limitations. We propose a novel berth scheduling problem considering the traffic limitations in the navigation channel, which appears in many cases including insufficient channel width, bad weather, poor visibility, channel accidents, maintenance dredging of the navigation channel, large vessels passing through the channel, and so on. To optimally utilize the berth and improve the service quality for customers, we propose a mixed-integer linear programming model to formulate the berth scheduling problem under the one-way ship traffic rule in the navigation channel. Furthermore, we develop a more generalized model which can cope with hybrid traffic in the navigation channel including one-way traffic, two-way traffic, and temporary closure of the navigation channel. For large-scale problems, a hybrid simulated annealing algorithm, which employs a problem-specific heuristic, is presented to reduce the computational time. Computational experiments are performed to evaluate the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed method.

Keywords: berth scheduling; time windows; container terminal; navigation channel; traffic limitation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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