Planning for intra-block remarshalling in a container terminal

Abstract

Intra-block remarshalling in a container terminal refers to the task of rearranging export containers scattered around within a block into designated target bays of the same block. Since the containers must be loaded onto a ship following a predetermined order, the rearrangement should be done in a way that containers to be loaded earlier are placed on top of those to be loaded later to avoid re-handlings. To minimize time to complete a remarshalling task, re-handlings should be avoided during remarshalling. Moreover, when multiple yard cranes are used for remarshalling, interference between the cranes should be minimized. In this paper, we present a simulated annealing approach to the efficient finding of a good intra-block remarshalling plan, which is free from re-handlings at the time of loading as well as during remarshalling. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.