The Economic Speed of Stevedoring Operation in Container Terminal

Ship's stay time in port is relatively fixed under normal condition due to liner system, thus stevedoring fast brings no practical significance but negative effects. In accordance with the characteristic, a new concept- economic speed of stevedoring operation-is put forward in present paper to describe the best rhythm of stevedoring operation in port. Then an optimization model, with ship's stay time, production cost and quality safety considered for maximizing the whole benefit, is established to obtain the economic speed. A genetic algorithm is adopted to solve the model, and an example is given to verify the validity of the model and feasibility of solution method. The results show that the economic speed of stevedoring operation can reveal the best rhythm and capacity of stevedoring operation, and provide effective decision basis to the managers for scheduling plan.