A systemic analysis of container terminal layouts

Abstract

The paper provides a systemic analysis of the layout characteristics of a geodatabase comprised of a large sample of 331 global container terminals. Despite the propensity towards terminal standardization that can be expected from containerization, container terminals demonstrate a substantial diversity in measurable attributes such as perimeter, terminal surface, yard surface, and berth length. This is mainly attributed to site characteristics constraining terminal design and operations with clusters arranged along terminal rectangularity level. A further observation concerns the propensity of container terminals to be oriented longitudinally. Geographical factors remain important, including whether the terminal design is a reconversion of an older facility, an adaptation to specific site constraints, or a new land reclamation.