A Location Inventory Routing Optimisation Model and Algorithm for a Remote Island Shipping Network considering Emergency Inventory

This paper studies a hub-and-spoke shipping network of remote islands and integrates a maritime location inventory routing problem for a remote island shipping network considering emergency inventory. By determining a series of decisions, including the location of the hub islands, number of shipping routes, schedule of every route, travelling mode of every route, ship size, wharf scale, and inventory capacity, the objective of this study is to minimise the total cost of the remote island shipping network over the operating period. Subsequently, a mixed-integer programming model to minimise the total cost of the system is developed. To solve the model, we present a genetic algorithm based on a stepwise configuration module (SC-GA). Finally, instances are proposed to evaluate the performance of the algorithm. The results of the instance calculation show that the algorithm has good applicability and effectiveness in solving the problem in this paper. Through algorithm comparison, it is found that the performance of SC-GA is better than the algorithms in the relevant literature. This paper provides practical information for the design, optimisation and sustainability of remote island shipping networks considering emergency inventory.