OPTIMIZING THE CONTAINER TRUCK PATHS WITH UNCERTAIN TRAVEL TIME IN CONTAINER PORTS

The yard template problem in container ports determines the assignment of space to store containers for the vessels, which could impact container truck paths. Actually, the travel time of container truck paths is uncertain. This paper considers the uncertainty from two perspectives: (1) the yard congestion in the context of yard truck interruptions, (2) the correlation among adjacent road sections (links). A mixed-integer programming model is proposed to minimize the travel time of container trucks. The reliable shortest path, which takes the correlation among links into account is firstly discussed. To settle the problem, a Shuffled Complex Evolution Approach (SCE-UA) algorithm is designed to work out the assignment of yard template, and the A* algorithm is presented to find the reliable shortest path according to the port operator’s attitude. In our case study, one yard in Dalian (China) container port is chosen to test the applicability of the model. The result shows the proposed model can save 9% of the travel time of container trucks, compared with the model without considering the correlation among adjacent links.

THE EVALUATION OF COMPETITIVENESS ON COST ADVANTAGE OF REGIONAL HUB PORT: THE CASE STUDY OF TRANS-PACIFIC ROUTE AGAINST KAOHSIUNG PORT

Numerous conventional container ports in East Asia are evolving from intercontinental into regional hub ports. This study adopted the Port of Kaohsiung as an example of competition with neighboring ports. The results of this study demonstrated that the Port of Kaohsiung is still a competitive docking port on trans-Pacific trunk routes for North America, despite facing external threats (e.g., upsizing of ships, lack of new deep-water terminals, and new strategic alliances affecting terminal operations), overall shipping cost considerations (e.g., container volume, different ship sizes, and port selection), and increasingly intense competition with neighboring ports. Under such circumstances, the Port of Kaohsiung must keep pace with container ship upsizing, sufficiently increase deep-water terminal capacity, and improve its existing container terminals’ operating efficiency to attract route deployment and larger container ships and thereby maintain its current advantages and position as a regional hub port.

A POLICY-MAKING FRAMEWORK FOR ENHANCING THE KAOHSIUNG PORT’S ECONOMIC RESILIENCE

This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Influential indicators for measuring Kaohsiung port resilience’ presented at the International Forum on Shipping, Port, and Airports (IFSPA 2013), Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 3–5 June 2013. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method commonly used in the issue of decision making was performed in this study to propose a policy-making framework for enhancing the Kaohsiung port’s economic resilience. A three-level hierarchical structure with 19 attributes is proposed and tested. Results indicate that adjusting the shipping policy is perceived as the most critical strategic dimension to enhance container port resilience. This is followed by increasing incentives, adjusting port operational strategy and exploiting market opportunities. Overall, results show that the five most important strategies for enhancing international container ports’ resilience are training of international marketing personnel, economic deregulation of shipping market across the Taiwan-Strait; subsidising the throughput of containers transhipment, subsidising coastal shipping operations and the alteration of dedicated terminals for rent. This study contributes in proposing a policy-making framework to enhance the container port’s economic resilience, and this framework could also be generalised to other ports.

APPLICATION OF FUZZY TOPSIS MODEL FOR CONTAINER PORT SELECTION CONSIDERING ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Container ships are the type of ships that produce the most emissions in maritime transport. In container transportation not only in navigation but also at container ports, a lot of emissions are formed. Ports are generally close by and highly interacted with the inner parts of the city, the impacts of the gas emissions are quite high on people. The study investigated port selection criteria, in terms of cost, efficiency and especially in terms of environmental impacts in order to create awareness. Container port selection problem was solved using fuzzy TOPSIS (The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Situation) method considering the perspective of carriers. In the study, the container port selection was carried out among the four largest container ports in Turkey.

Optimising truck arrival management and number of service gates at container terminals

PurposeTruck appointment systems have been applied in critical container ports in the United States due to their potential to improve handling operations. This paper aims to develop a truck appointment system to optimise the total cost experiencing at the entrance of container terminals by managing truck arrivals and the number of service gates satisfying a given level of service.Design/methodology/approachThe approximation of Mt/G/nt queuing model is applied and integrated into a cost optimisation model to identify (1) the number of arrival trucks allowed at each time slot and (2) the number of service gates operating at each time slot that ensure the average waiting time is less than a designated time threshold. The optimisation model is solved by the Genetic Algorithm and tested with a case study. Its effectiveness is identified by comparing the model's outcomes with observed data and other recent studies.FindingsThe results indicate that the developed truck appointment system can provide more than threefold and twofold reductions of the total cost experiencing at the terminal entrance compared to the actual data and results from previous research, respectively.Originality/valueThe proposed approach provides applicably coordinated truck plans and operating service gates efficiently to decrease congestion, emission and expenses.

Evaluating the efficiency of Mediterranean container ports using data envelopment analysis

Mediterranean container ports are constantly requested to face new market challenges after years of decline of their traffic in favour of a stronger leadership of Northern range ports, also favoured by the consolidation of the Arctic Route and the Belt and Road Initiative. To regain competitiveness, Mediterranean ports must undertake a path of operational, managerial and infrastructural strengthening. This study applies Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to 35 Mediterranean container ports in order to identify the potential key success factors on which to intervene to improve their competitiveness potential and response to the new market needs. The application uses the port throughput as output, and three inputs: yard area, number of quay cranes and distance of the port from the Suez–Gibraltar axis. The latter has been inserted in the study to evaluate whether it can affect port efficiency. Both input- and output-oriented approaches are used in order to investigate the port competitiveness through the production function (input-oriented), and the port commercial competitiveness based on the output and feasibility of its production (output-oriented). Results can provide insights for the implementation of future policies and management strategies aimed to strengthen the Mediterranean port context.