A Multi-Agent Optimization Approach for Multimodal Collaboration in Marine Terminals

Ilias Alexandros Parmaksizoglou (), Alessandro Bombelli and Alexei Sharpanskykh
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Ilias Alexandros Parmaksizoglou: Operations & Environment, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands
Alessandro Bombelli: Operations & Environment, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands
Alexei Sharpanskykh: Operations & Environment, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands

Logistics, 2025, vol. 9, issue 3, 1-30

Abstract: Background: The rapid growth of international maritime trade has intensified operational challenges at marine terminals due to increased interaction between vessels, trucks, and trains. Key issues include berth congestion, inefficient truck arrivals, and underutilization of terminal resources. Ensuring coordinated planning among transport modes and fostering collaboration between stakeholders such as vessel operators, logistics providers, and terminal managers is critical to mitigating these inefficiencies. Methods: This study proposes a multi-agent, multi-objective coordination model that synchronizes vessel berth allocation with truck appointment scheduling. A solution method combining prioritized planning with a neighborhood search heuristic is introduced to explore Pareto-optimal trade-offs. The performance of this approach is benchmarked against well-established multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs), including NSGA-II and SPEA2. Results: Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed method generates a greater number of Pareto-optimal solutions and achieves higher hypervolume indicators compared to MOEAs. These results show improved balance among objectives such as minimizing vessel waiting times, reducing truck congestion, and optimizing terminal resource usage. Conclusions: By integrating berth allocation and truck scheduling through a transparent, multi-agent approach, this work provides decision-makers with better tools to evaluate trade-offs in port terminal operations. The proposed strategy supports more efficient, fair, and informed coordination in complex multimodal environments.

Keywords: marine terminals; distributed scheduling; truck appointment systems; berth allocation; multi-objective optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L8 L80 L81 L86 L87 L9 L90 L91 L92 L93 L98 L99 M1 M10 M11 M16 M19 R4 R40 R41 R49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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