A model for economic and environmental evaluation of inter-/intra-terminal containers flows

Abstract

European maritime ports play a fundamental role in maritime transport of containers. One of the more common problem of these ports is related to the berth congestion; in these cases solutions recommended by industry officials is to expand terminal capacity; when this solution is not available the ‘Dry port’ represents an effective alternative. The dry port is an external area directly connected with one or several seaports by rail and/or road transport. The adoption of a dry port leads to benefits on terminal congestion; depending on the distance of the dry port from the port as well as on the amount of containers stocked in the dry port area, the transport of the containers from port to dry port requires resources. In this paper, a model that allows optimizing the inter-/ intra-terminal flows of the containers is proposed. The model aims at the minimization of costs and environmental impact due to the handling of containers. A full case study concerning a multi-terminal maritime system located in Port of Bari is developed.