A Framework for Integrated Berth Allocation and Crane Operations Planning in Seaport Container Terminals

In seaport container terminals, berth allocation, quay crane assignment, and quay crane scheduling problems are solved sequentially. However, this sequential way of planning the seaside operations often hinders obtaining a sufficient resource utilization and service quality at low cost. This paper provides a framework for aligning all decisions that have to be made in an integrative manner. The framework is laid down in three phases. Phase I estimates productivity rates for the cranes from the vessels' stowage plans. The productivity rates are used in Phase II to make berthing decisions and to assign crane capacity to vessels. Phase III determines detailed crane schedules and aligns the decisions made. The framework supports using well-known heuristics for solving the contained subproblems. Computational tests reveal that the integrated planning is computationally tractable for problem scenarios of realistic size. It is also demonstrated that the new approach balances the cost drivers of a terminal much better than the conventional way of operations planning does and that it enables significant cost reductions.