Optimal design of container liner services: Interactions with the transport demand in ports
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Optimal design of container liner services: Interactions with the transport demand in ports Z h o n g z h e n Ya n g a , K a n g C h e n a a n d T h e o N o t t e b o o m b a
Transportation Management College, Dalian Maritime University, 1, Linghai Road, Dalian, Liaoning, China. E-mails: [email protected]; [email protected] b ITMMA, University of Antwerp, Kipdorp 59, Antwerp 2000, Belgium. E-mail: [email protected]
A b s t r a c t This article introduces an optimization model for container liner services that simultaneously optimizes the shipping route and the container slot allocation on vessels by considering the interactions between the container shipping scheme and the transport demand in the ports. The model consists of two input factors and two processes. The input factors include the shipping scheme and the transport demand in the ports. The processes relate to the optimization of the shipping scheme for a fixed transport demand and the adjustment of the transport demand for a given shipping schedule. We demonstrate the model in an empirical case study on liner service optimization on the trade route between East Asia and West Europe. Maritime Economics & Logistics (2012) 14, 409–434. doi:10.1057/mel.2012.14
Keywords: container; ship routing; transport demand; slot allocation; feeder port
Introduction Global demand for container transport has seen a spectacular growth over the last decades. The total number of containers transported worldwide rose from 105 million TEU in 2004 to 140 million TEU in 2010 (Maersk Sealand, 2006; Clarkson Research, 2011). Worldwide container port throughput increased from 36 million TEU in 1980 to 237 million TEU in 2000 and 545 million TEU in 2010. r 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1479-2931 Maritime Economics & Logistics Vol. 14, 4, 409–434 www.palgrave-journals.com/mel/
Yang et al
Part of the growth was attributable to an increasing share of sea-sea transshipment flows in total container port throughput: from 17.6 per cent in 1990 to 28.7 per cent in 2010 (Drewry Shipping Consultants, 2011). Around 79 per cent of the world port throughput involved full containers, about 21 per cent are empty containers. Containerized flows are almost never balanced, implying that empty containers must be repositioned to locations where export cargo is available (Rodrigue and Notteboom, 2009; Theofanis and Boile, 2009). Imbalances in the North America – Far East trade peaked in 2006 when containerized freight flows to North America were almost three times as voluminous as containerized flows from North America to the Far East. In 2010 eastbound trade was 60 per cent higher than westbound trade. Imbalances in the Europe – Far East trade are also substantial with eastbound traffic only reaching 38 per cent of westbound flows in 2007 and 49 per cent in 2010 (figures UNCTAD, 2011). In order to cope with growing demand, to serve markets better and to realize higher vessel utilization, container shipping lines have revised their liner service schedules by adding more services
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