Simulation-based optimization for housekeeping in a container transshipment terminal

An important activity in container transshipment terminals consists in transferring containers in the yard from their current temporary positions to different positions closer to the point along the berth from which the containers will be boarded on departing vessels. This housekeeping process aims at speeding-up discharge and loading operations and, thus, relieving congestion. This article introduces a heuristic procedure to manage the routing of multi-trailer systems and straddle carriers in a maritime terminal. A simulation model embedded in a local search heuristic allows a proper evaluation of the impact of different vehicle schedules on congestion and throughput. Computational experiments performed on test instances derived from real-life data show that important improvements in routing distance and vehicle waiting time can be obtained compared to the use of standard scheduling policies.