A Simulation Model for Container Ships Scheduling in Qinzhou Port under Seamless Connection Mode
Publication: ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering
Volume 10, Issue 3
Abstract
Qinzhou Port in China is witnessing a continuous increase in visiting ships, especially container ships. This results in the increase of ship waiting time, and enhancing the handling efficiency for container ships becomes urgent. Motivated by the existing research on ship scheduling using simulation technologies, the objective of this study is performing a quantitative evaluation on the effectiveness of the novel scheduling approach for container ships. Qinzhou Port Authority is considering using the seamless-connection scheduling mode. A simulation model is constructed on the whole process of container ships arriving at and leaving the port under the existing and seamless-connection modes, which can support managers in making decisions. The results indicate that the seamless-connection scheduling mode can reduce the average wait time from 5.6 to 3.3 h in the present situation. Moreover, the upper bound of the berth occupation rate can be enhanced from around 85% to 92% by seamless-connection mode compared with the existing scheduling mode, and the average wait time can be restrained within the acceptable level. Although the seamless-connection mode needs more investment to guarantee safety, the results are valuable for port authorities to make a cost-benefit evaluation in the future.
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Data Availability Statement
Some data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. These include the following items: the traffic simulation model constructed in Section “The simulation model construction” and the simulation experimental result data in Section “Simulations and discussions.”
Acknowledgments
The research was supported by Fund of Guangxi Science and Technology Program (AB23026132), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51920105014 and 52071247), Hubei Key Laboratory of Inland Shipping Technology (202202), Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team Import Project of Shaoguan City (201212176230928), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WUT: 223144002 and 2023IVB079).
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Published In
ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering
Volume 10 • Issue 3 • September 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 22, 2023
Accepted: Feb 28, 2024
Published online: Jun 17, 2024
Published in print: Sep 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Nov 17, 2024
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