The Containership Loading Problem

The efficiency of a container terminal depends primarily on the smooth and orderly process of handling containers, especially during the ship's loading procedure. The loading plan is mainly determined by two considerations: ship stability and minimum number of rehandles required. These two basic considerations are often in conflict. Most containerships have a cellular structure, imposing a strong restriction on the order of the container loading sequence. To preserve a ship's stability, some containers may be stowed in a ship hold in middle vertical locations. A similar loading problem exists in the stacking of yard containers. If these containers are stacked in the yard under others which are to be picked up later, then the loading process requires a number of container rehandles. This paper is concerned with a ship's container load planning which satisfies these two considerations and minimises the number of rehandles.International Journal of Maritime Economics (2002) 4, 126–148. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.ijme.9100041