Agent-based support for container terminals to make appointments with barges

Abstract

We consider, container terminal that has to make appointments with barges dynamically with only limited knowledge about future arriving barges, and in the view of uncertainty and disturbances. We study this problem using, case study at the Port of Rotterdam, considering, proposed multi-agent system for aligning barge rotations and terminal quay schedules. We take the perspective of, single terminal participating in this system and focus on the decision making capabilities of its intelligent agent. Using simulation, with input settings based on characteristics of the larger terminals within the Port of Rotterdam, we analyze the benefits of our approach. We conclude that, terminal can increase its utilization significantly by using various sources of flexibility in the operational planning.