EURO 2024 Copenhagen
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615. Optimizing RoRo Stevedoring Operations: Dual Cycling for Vessel Turnaround Efficiency

Invited abstract in session MA-62: Seaside Planning I, stream OR in Port Operations.

Monday, 8:30-10:00
Room: S12 (building: 101)

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Teresa Marquardt
Service Analytics, CAU Kiel University
2. Arne Heinold
Department of Operations and Technology, Kühne Logistics University
3. Catherine Cleophas
Service Analytics, CAU Kiel University
4. Frank Meisel
Christian-Albrechts-University

Abstract

This work addresses the challenge of decreasing vessel turnaround time in Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) shipping as a means to achieve emission reduction by enabling time savings that allow for slower sailing. RoRo shipping has received comparatively less attention than container shipping by research, yet it is of high relevance, especially in Europe with its long shorelines. The study investigates the potential of stevedoring optimization by extending the Dual Cycling Problem from the literature, where on- and off-loading operations happen simultaneously. To that end, we model a continuous time horizon, differentiate between driver-handled cargo and stevedore-handled cargo with heterogeneous processing times, and solve the assignment and sequencing of operations for the stevedores. We propose a mixed integer linear programming model to solve the resulting problem. Given high computational effort for instances of realistic size, we further propose a biased random-key genetic algorithm, a random construction heuristic, and rule-based heuristics to find good solutions in short runtime. We present computational results demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed approaches under varying conditions. Additionally, managerial insights clarify the superiority of stevedoring with a dual cycling strategy over single cycling, the impact of different cargo-handling policies, and the effects of different stowage policies on the turnaround time.

Keywords

Status: accepted

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