Economy of Scale and Routes Optimization of Large Containerships

China's container lines have operated large containerships with the carrying capacity of above 9000-TEU, however there is no difference between the operation of such huge ships and that of 4000-TEU containerships according to the published sailing schedules. The economy of scale is considered first. And in accordance with the principle of large ships for routes with large traffic, and taking shipping companies' cost of operation and cost of inventory into account, the issue of system optimization of container liners' routes based on hub-ports is brought forward. CSCL is chosen as an example to make a study of the selection of hinge ports in sailing schedules for large containerships. The method of slots presale is also studied.