Joint scheduling of vessels and vessel service providers for enhancing the efficiency of the port call process

Shahrzad Nikghadam (), Ratnaji Vanga, Jafar Rezaei and Lori Tavasszy
Additional contact information
Shahrzad Nikghadam: Port of Rotterdam Authority
Ratnaji Vanga: The Delft University of Technology
Jafar Rezaei: The Delft University of Technology
Lori Tavasszy: The Delft University of Technology

Maritime Economics & Logistics, 2025, vol. 27, issue 1, No 8, 236 pages

Abstract: Abstract As ports are experiencing heavier traffic, the pressure to improve port call processes is increasing. Port call optimization (PCO) is one of these improvement initiatives, enabling the arrival of vessels to the port just-in-time when the vessel services, like pilotage, towage, and mooring, are all readily available. Otherwise, vessels that sailed at full speed to arrive at the port may have to wait, idling at anchorage, occupying space, burning fuel, and leading to increased congestion. One of the main challenges in the implementation of PCO is determining the time at which availability of these services can be guaranteed. The paper addresses this challenge by presenting a model that jointly schedules vessels and service providers. It extends the current approaches to allow application to larger and busier ports, where repositioning times for pilots and tugboats is highly variable and vessels experience waiting times between services. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming one and is modelled in continuous time. We test alternative scheduling strategies using three different objective functions, based on the current ‘first-come-first-serve’ approach, a minimal level of service, and the best capacity utilization. The model is applied on data made available by the Port of Rotterdam, and it provides a full-service schedule for vessels and service providers.

Keywords: Scheduling; Port call optimization; Port management; Port services; Technical-nautical services; Mathematical modelling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41278-024-00290-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:marecl:v:27:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41278-024-00290-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nt/journal/41278/PS2

DOI: 10.1057/s41278-024-00290-4

Access Statistics for this article

Maritime Economics & Logistics is currently edited by Hercules E. Haralambides

More articles in Maritime Economics & Logistics from Palgrave Macmillan, International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().