Modelling the impact of liner shipping network perturbations on container cargo routing: Southeast Asia to Europe application

Understanding how container routing stands to be impacted by different scenarios of liner shipping network perturbations such as natural disasters or new major infrastructure developments is of key importance for decision-making in the liner shipping industry. The variety of actors and processes within modern supply chains and the complexity of their relationships have previously led to the development of simulation-based models, whose application has been largely compromised by their dependency on extensive and often confidential sets of data. This study proposes the application of optimisation techniques less dependent on complex data sets in order to develop a quantitative framework to assess the impacts of disruptive events on liner shipping networks. We provide a categorization of liner network perturbations, differentiating between systemic and external and formulate a container assignment model that minimises routing costs extending previous implementations to allow feasible solutions when routing capacity is reduced below transport demand. We develop a base case network for the Southeast Asia to Europe liner shipping trade and review of accidents related to port disruptions for two scenarios of seismic and political conflict hazards. Numerical results identify alternative routing paths and costs in the aftermath of port disruptions scenarios and suggest higher vulnerability of intra-regional connectivity

Intra-, inter-, and extra-container path loss for shipping container monitoring systems

This letter presents empirical path loss models for an environment of stacked shipping containers. Specifically, a system for wireless monitoring of containers is considered for which three different types of wireless links are identified, namely intra-, inter-, and extra-container links. Furthermore, the inter-container link is investigated for the two most common types of container stacking: row and block stacking. Intra-and inter-container path loss are investigated at IEEE 802.15.4 frequencies of 433, 868, and 2400 MHz. Extra-container path loss is examined at GSM/UMTS frequencies of 900, 1850, and 2100 MHz. Distance-dependent path loss models are proposed for the inter-and extra-container links ( high-correlation coefficients between 0.76 and 0.86). The resulting path loss models can be used in link budget calculations for container monitoring systems

Shipping risk management practice revisited: a new portfolio approach

The international shipping industry is susceptible to heightened market volatility manifested in significant freight rate fluctuations and thus diversifying and hedging the associated risks have become central to shipping business practice.Building on the extant literature on shipping freight derivatives, this study develops a portfolio-based methodological framework aiming to improve freight rate risk management. The study also offers, for the first time, evidence of the hedging performance of the recently developed container freight futures market. Our approach utilizes portfolios of container, dry bulk and tanker freight futures along with corresponding portfolios of physical freight rates in order to improve the efficacy of risk diversification for shipping market practitioners. The empirical findings uncovered in this study have important implications for overall business, commercial, and hedging strategies in the shipping industry, while they can ultimately lead to a more liquid and efficient freight futures market

How to boost market introduction of foldable containers? The unexpected role of container lease industry

Transport of empty containers, which arises from the need to reposition containers, is an expensive business. This holds in particular for shipping lines, who are usually responsible for container repositioning and have to bear these container management costs. Shipping lines are known to follow various strategies to reduce these costs of empty transport as much as they can. A rather unfamiliar, but interesting option to save costs is the possibility to fold empty containers. This could save transport costs, but also transhipment and storage costs. Using foldable containers could therefore be commercially attractive, provided that foldable containers can fulfil the technical and logistical conditions demanded by the users. Despite their potential benefits however, there seems to be a reluctance to use these containers. In this paper we analyse this reluctance and we discuss the important role container lessors could play in initiating the use of foldable containers. The special relationship between shipping lines and container lessors appears to be of particular importance and is a key to pave the way for using foldable containers

CASE: Reinventing the container shipping industry

Containerized shipping is the backbone of global trade and a pivotal element in modern day globalization. Every year, millions of containers are shipped onboard more than 5.000 container - the main shipping routes being between Asia, Europa and the USA. In 2010, more than 30 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units - the common unit in container shipping) were exported from China alone

Response analysis of an automobile shipping container

The design and development of automobile shipping containers to reduce enroute damage are discussed. Vibration tests were conducted to determine the system structural integrity. A dynamic analysis was made using NASTRAN and the results of the test and the analysis are compared

Port choice by intra-regional container service operators : an application of decision-making techniques to liner services between Malaysian and other Asian ports

Intra-regional container service operators are challenged to design regular and reliable liner services connecting regional ports at the lowest cost and shortest transit time while considering customer demand. This paper focuses on the selection of ports of call in regular intra-regional container services, an under-researched part of the container shipping market. A combination of decision-making techniques (i.e. Analytical Hierarchy Process, fuzzy link-based and Evidential Reasoning) are presented to assist intra-regional container service operators in selecting ports of call. The proposed methodology is empirically applied to container services between Malaysian and other nearby Asian ports. While Port Klang is the main gateway to Malaysia, the results show that other Malaysian ports should play a more prominent role in accommodating intra-Asian container services. This research can assist maritime stakeholders in evaluating intra-regional port-to-port liner service configurations. Furthermore, the novel mix of decision-making techniques complements and enriches existing academic literature on port choice and liner service configuration

Immunity-based evolutionary algorithm for optimal global container repositioning in liner shipping

Global container repositioning in liner shipping has always been a challenging problem in container transportation as the global market in maritime logistics is complex and competitive. Supply and demand are dynamic under the ever changing trade imbalance. A useful computation optimization tool to assist shipping liners on decision making and planning to reposition large quantities of empty containers from surplus countries to deficit regions in a cost effective manner is crucial. A novel immunity-based evolutionary algorithm known as immunity-based evolutionary algorithm (IMEA) is developed to solve the multi-objective container repositioning problems in this research. The algorithm adopts the clonal selection and immune suppression theories to attain the Pareto optimal front. The proposed algorithm was verified with benchmarking functions and compared with four optimization algorithms to assess its diversity and spread. The developed algorithm provides a useful means to solve the problem and assist shipping liners in the global container transportation operations in an optimized and cost effective manner. © 2010 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201

A 200-pound diborane shipping container: Design and performance

Design and storage tests of 200 lb diborane shipping container including storage time, volumetric loading, and pressure-temperature limitation

Optimization in container liner shipping

We will give an overview of several decision problem encountered in liner shipping. We will cover problems on the strategic, tactical and operational planning levels as well as problems that can be considered at two planning levels simultaneously. Furthermore, we will shortly discuss some related problems in terminals, geographical bottlenecks for container ships and provide an overview of operations research methods used in liner shipping problems. Thereafter, the decision problems will be illustrated using a case study for six Indonesian ports