Constraint programming models for integrated container terminal operations

Damla Kizilay, Pascal Van Hentenryck and Deniz T. Eliiyi

European Journal of Operational Research, 2020, vol. 286, issue 3, 945-962

Abstract: Although operations in container terminals are highly interdependent, they are traditionally optimized by decomposing the overall problem into a sequence of smaller sub-problems, each focusing on a single operation. Recent studies, however, have demonstrated the need and potential of optimizing these interdependent operations jointly. This paper proposes the Integrated Port Container Terminal Problem (IPCTP) that considers the joint optimization of quay crane assignment and scheduling, yard crane assignment and scheduling, yard location assignments, and yard truck assignment and scheduling. The IPCTP aims at minimizing the turnover times of the vessels and maximize terminal throughput. It also considers inbound and outbound containers simultaneously and models the safety distance and the interference constraints for the quay cranes. To solve the IPCTP, the paper proposes several constraint programming (CP) models. Computational results show that CP provides exact solutions in acceptable time to IPCTP instances derived from an actual (small) container terminal in Turkey. For hard IPCTP instances, the CP model can be generalized in a two-stage optimization approach to produce high-quality solutions in reasonable times.

Keywords: OR in maritime industry; Constraint programming; Container terminal operations; Scheduling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:286:y:2020:i:3:p:945-962

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2020.04.025

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