................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ xvi 1. INTRODUCTION ................................ ................................ ................................ .................... 1 1.1. Maritime Transportation ................................ ................................ ........................ 2 1.2. Challenges in Supply Chain Management ................................ ............................. 3 1.3. Alternatives for Meeting the Growing Demand ................................ .................... 4 1.4. New Technologies for Sustainable Supply Chain Management ............................ 8 2. DECISION PROBLEMS IN LINER SHIPPING ................................ ................................ ... 11 3. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 14 3.1. Service Frequency Determination ................................ ................................ ........ 15 3.1.1. Description of Studies ................................ ................................ ................... 15 3.1.2. Summary of Findings ................................ ................................ .................... 17 3.1.3. Future Research Directions ................................ ................................ ........... 18 3.2. Fleet Deployment ................................ ................................ ................................ . 18 3.2.1. Description of Studies ................................ ................................ ................... 18 3.2.2. Summary of Findings ................................ ................................ .................... 21 3.2.3. Future Research Directions ................................ ................................ ........... 24 3.3. Sailing Speed Optimization ................................ ................................ ................. 25 3.3.1. Description of Studies ................................ ................................ ................... 25 3.3.2. Summary of Findings ................................ ................................ .................... 29 3.3.3. Future Research Directions ................................ ................................ ........... 31 3.4. Vessel Scheduling ................................ ................................ ................................ 32 vi 3.4.1. Categories ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 32 3.4.2. Summary of Findings ................................ ................................ .................... 50 3.4.3. Future Research Directions ................................ ................................ ........... 61 3.5. Literature Review Conclusion and Dissertaion Contribution .............................. 62 4. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 66 4.1. Liner Shipping Port Rotations ................................ ................................ ............. 66 4.2. Vessel Fleet ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 67 4.3. Service at Ports of Call ................................ ................................ ........................ 68 4.4. Fuel Consumption ................................ ................................ ................................ 69 4.5. Sensitivity of Container Demand ................................ ................................ ......... 71 4.6. Service Frequency ................................ ................................ ................................ 72 4.7. Container Inventory ................................ ................................ ............................. 74 4.8. Emissions from Liner Shipping ................................ ................................ ........... 74 4.9. Selection of Vessel Sailing Speeds ................................ ................................ ...... 75 4.10. Objective of a Liner Shipping Company ................................ ............................. 76 5. MATHEMATICAL MODEL ................................ ................................ ................................ . 78 5.1. Preliminary Linearization Techniques ................................ ................................ . 78 5.2. Nomenclature ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 80 5.2.1. Sets ................................ ................................ ................................ ................ 80 5.2.2. Decision Variables ................................ ................................ ........................ 80 5.2.3. Auxiliary Variables ................................ ................................ ....................... 81 5.2.4. Parameters ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 82 5.3. Holistic Optimization Model for Tactical -Level Planning in Liner Shipping (HOMTLP): ................................ ................................ ................................ .................. 84 5.4. Solution Approach ................................ ................................ ............................... 88 vii 6. NUM ERICAL EXPERIMENTS ................................ ................................ ............................ 89 6.1. Input Data ................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 90 6.2. Performance of the Solution Approach Adopted ................................ ................. 93 6.2.1. Solution Quality and Computational Time Analysis ................................ .... 93 6.2.2. Efficiency of the Adopted Linearization Techn iques ................................ ... 94 6.3. Model Performance against the Exiting Literature ................................ .............. 96 6.4. Managerial Insights ................................ ................................ .............................. 99 6.4.1. Sensitivity Analysis for the Unit Fuel Cost ................................ .................. 99 6.4.2. Sensitivity Analysis for the Unit Emission Cost ................................ ......... 105 6.4.3. Sensitivity Analysis for the Unit Inventory Cost ................................ ........ 114 6.4.4. Sensitivity Analysis for the Unit Operational and Chartering Costs .......... 123 6.4.5. Sensitivity Analysis for the Vessel Availability ................................ ......... 133 6.4.6. Sensitivity Analy sis for the Unit Late Arrival Cost ................................ .... 143 6.4.7. Sensitivity Analysis for the Unit Freight Rate ................................ ............ 157 6.4.8. Sensitivity Analysis for the Availability of Port Arrival TWs ................... 163 6.4.9. Sensitivity Analysis for the Availability of Container HRs ........................ 171 6.4.10. Sensitivity Analysis for the Unit Fuel Cost and the Unit Emission Cost ... 179 6.4.11. Sensitivity Analysis for the Unit Fuel Cost and the Unit Inventory Cost ... 186 7. CONCLUDING REMARKS ................................ ................................ ................................ 195 8. FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS ................................ ................................ ................ 199 8.1. Addressing Uncertaintie s in Liner Shipping ................................ ...................... 200 8.1.1. Minimax Regret Approach ................................ ................................ ......... 201 8.1.2. Application of Upper and Lower Bounds ................................ ................... 202 8.1.3. Cardinality -Constrained Method ................................ ................................ 202 8.1.4. Scenario Analysis ................................ ................................ ........................ 203 viii 8.1.5. Sample Average Approximation ................................ ................................ . 203 8.2. Solving the Model within a Reasonable Time ................................ ................... 204