## 1 Introduction  
Due to the increase of container trade volume, new port construction is required [1]. In [PERSON] and [PERSON] [2], it is stated that \"the continual growth of transshipment operation has been noted. The average number of transfers between ship and shore was 2.0 in 1960, up to 2.9 in 1980, 3.2 in 2000 and 3.5 in 2012. The worldwide transshipment handling volume increased more than 40-fold between 1980 and 2012, from 4.2 to 174.6 m TEUs.\" In addition, since the construction of a container port requires enormous cost [3], it is essential to make wise decisions regarding port architecture and capacity early in the design. However, the design of container ports is a challenge, because of the complexity of the interacting port systems and the many options available for each. As described by [4], the port planning problem initially focuses on the terminal design, which consists of determining the \"multi-modal interfaces, terminal layout, equipment selection, berthing capacity, and IT systems and control software.\" Our focus is on equipment selection, which is the number and capabilities of each of the pieces of equipment of the system. An alternative concept to consider is the offshore port service concept that focuses on increasing container throughput instead of traditional port service expansion. Mid-stream operation and barge with crane has been employed to serve the Hong Kong port for decades [5]. The barge with a crane moves between container ships that are anchored offshore and at land berth by using a tow ship. Because it has its own crane, it is able to load and unload containers to and from the container ship at offshore. Mid-stream operation is economically viable since Hong Kong has very expensive land costs. Between 200 and 250 barges are currently used in Hong Kong. Capacity is up to 48 TEU and capable of handling 3500 TEU container vessel. Mid-Stream Operation is more than 50% cheaperthan the land berth operation. Loading and unloading cargo speed is 16-24 TEU/hour. However, the mid-stream operation does not fit large container ships due to the slow speed of operation and low offshore stability. In order to solve the problem of mid-stream operation, a mobile harbor (MH) was proposed in 2008 [6]. The mobile harbor has its own crane and propulsion system. The crane of the MH has a high speed and the stability required to operate at sea condition three. The system layout of the MH is depicted in Figure 1. MHs dock at the container ship, which is anchored offshore to load and unload containers. The MH moves to land berth to release/absorb containers by using a Roll-on-Roll-off (RORO) system instead of using the crane. The containers may be stored on wheeled palates on the barge and rolled off via self-propelled AGVs or rails. The RORO system of MH is able to reduce the required number of land berths due to the high operation speed when compared to the crane. However, the system could have safety and quality problems due to the difficulty of maintaining good crane balance during operations because the MH processes containers in the open sea. To resolve the problems, various studies have been conducted. In [7], a dynamic model of a mobile harbor subject to the motions of ship itself imparted by random sea waves was developed. It considered both sea-wave-induced ship motion and ship-motion-induced container sway. [PERSON] et al. [8] proposed a conceptual layout of the Mobile Harbor with considerations of the design-dependent loads such as self-weight, inertia loads, and wind forces. A topology optimization is conducted with the derived sensitivities of the design-dependent loads such as self-weight, inertia load, and wind force. For more information on these efforts, refer to [9; 10; 11]. As a result, a more efficient and safer system was developed, and open sea tests and economic studies were conducted to prove its feasibility and efficiency [12]. In addition to technical research, research on how to design, operate, and evaluate a mobile harbor system has also been conducted.