Optimization of Container Terminal Operations

Over the last years, international sea-freight container transportation has grown dramatically and container terminals play nowadays a key-role in the global shipping network. The increased competitiveness among terminals requires more and more efficiency in container operations, both along the quayside and within the yard, in order to minimize ships turnaround time. Operations research methods and techniques are therefore worth being used in optimizing terminal operations. In this work, we first give an overview of decision problems which arise in the management of a container terminal (e.g. berth allocation, crane scheduling, storage policies and strategies, transfer operations) and we briefly describe models and methods presented in the literature. Then, starting from a collaboration with some of the busiest ports in Europe, we have identified some critical issues which will be illustrated: in particular, we focus on the impact that gate operations and transshipment operations have on the yard and we propose a new approach to the yard management which takes into account these interactions. We conclude with suggestions of possible research tracks and open issues

Malmquist Productivity Index for Container Terminal

The current decade sees significant growth in worldwide seaborne container transportation and with it an essential need for optimization of its productivity.  Container ports and their terminals are required to remain competitive and able to handle the anticipated growth as there are huge challenges to increase its productivity, to reduce the spatial pressure and terminal congestion. The paper aims to analyse and measure the productivity of major container ports in Peninsular Malaysia. A non-parametric technique is employed to analyse and measure Malmquist productivity in estimating the utmost productive container terminals. The malmquist productivity results replicate the actual container ports productivity in line with resources within container terminals and obtained throughput. It is prove that current container terminals expansion by port operators in line with future demand. Keywords: Container terminal, DEA, Malmquist Productivity Inde

Seaport efficiency and productivity based on Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Productivity Index

"jats:p" Seaport efficiency and productivity are the critical factors for handling of goods in the international supply chains and plays an important role in trade exchange with other countries. It is important to evaluate efficiency and productivity of seaports to reflect their status and reveal their position in competitive environment. The main purpose of this article is to use Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Productivity Index to measure the technical efficiency and total factor productivity of container ports. DEA analysis enables one to assess how efficiently a seaports uses the available inputs to generate a set of outputs relative to other units in the data set. This article presents the use CCR and BCC DEA model, to determine overall technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency of container ports. The analysis gives a possibility to create a efficiency ranking of seaports. The study also applies the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI), which was used to analyze changes in seaports productivity. The study indicated that technological progress had a greater impact on the change in productivity of container ports than changes in technical efficiency. Document type: Articl

Optimization at Container Terminals: Status, Trends and Perspectives (revised version)

International sea-freight container transportation has grown dramatically over the last years and container terminals represent nowadays a key actor in the global shipping network. Terminal managers have to face with an increasing competitiveness among terminals, which require more and more efficiency in container operations both along the quayside and within the yard: the objective is usually to minimize ships turnaround time, one of the main indicators of the terminal performance for the shipping companies. Moreover, the minimization of operational costs directly entails the achievement of competitive terminal fares, thus increasing the attractiveness for new customers. Operations research methods and techniques are therefore worth being used in optimizing terminal operations. In this work, we firstly give an overview of decision problems which arise in the management of a container terminal (e.g. berth allocation, quay crane scheduling, storage policies and strategies, transfer operations, ship stowage planning) and provide a review of recent papers in the OR literature. Then, starting from a collaboration with some of the busiest ports in Europe, we identify some critical issues: in particular, we discuss the impact that gate and transshipment operations have on the yard. We also focus on competition and cooperation issues among port market players and decision makers. Finally, we conclude by suggesting possible research tracks and open issues

Sea Container Terminals

Due to a rapid growth in world trade and a huge increase in containerized goods, sea container terminals play a vital role in globe-spanning supply chains. Container terminals should be able to handle large ships, with large call sizes within the shortest time possible, and at competitive rates. In response, terminal operators, shipping liners, and port authorities are investing in new technologies to improve container handling infrastructure and operational efficiency. Container terminals face challenging research problems which have received much attention from the academic community. The focus of this paper is to highlight the recent developments in the container terminals, which can be categorized into three areas: (1) innovative container terminal technologies, (2) new OR directions and models for existing research areas, and (3) emerging areas in container terminal research. By choosing this focus, we complement existing reviews on container terminal operations