Empty containers repositioning: a state of the art overview

Since the beginning of containerization, empty containers repositioning has been an on-going issue in the maritime transportation industry. Over the years several research works have been developed in order to face the reposition of empty containers. This paper provides the readers with an accurate overview on methodologies and scientific approaches proposed (during the last decades) by researchers and scientists working in this specific area. The paper passes through the description of several research works, as they run through the literature, according to the methodology or scientific approach they propose. The initial search identifies a large number of references which were reduced to about 30 articles based on contents and quality. The descriptive analysis of the literature reveals heterogeneity among the scientific approaches due to the different models, techniques and methods used for facing the empty containers reposition problem.