Capacity-Feedback Relationship for Port of Bangkok

Specific objectives of this research were: (1) To ascertain whether or not berth service times at the port of Bangkok are state-dependent; (2) to determine the effect of this feedback phenomenon on berth capacity; and (3) to suggest the means of making the unloading operation more responsive to the number of ships in the system. Both the macroscopic and microscopic approaches were employed to fulfill these objectives. The macroscopic study of arrivals and departures of 2,273 ships for two 1 yr. periods revealed that although berth operations were influenced by the number of ships queued, this feedback had not been a planned instrument of the Port Authority. The microsopic analysis of a large number of repetitions of the unloading cycle for ships carrying various types of cargo gave the possible or ideal capacity, while the microscopic tracer study of making a continuous record of the cargo-handling operation of a single ship throughout its entire stay at a berth suggested a practical capacity for the 10-berth facility.