Transshipment operations optimization of searail intermodal container in seaport rail terminals Abstract   This paper tackles the searail transshipment operation problem of seaport rail terminals, which includes two key subproblems involved in searail intermodal container transportation, namely train schedule template and transshipment plan of inbound containers. With limited resources and time constraints, operators need to decide the placedin and takenout time of trains to coordinate with vesselsxe2x80x99 unloading time and the transshipment plan of inbound containers (i.e. the amount of containers that are transshipped between different vessels and trains in each time slot) to maximize the number of directtransshipment containers while minimizing the storage time and dwell time of inbound containers. The problem is formulated as an integer programming model, and a tailored rolling horizon approach with the adaptive horizon and backtracking strategy is proposed. The performance of the algorithm is verified by a set of instances. The results suggest that the handling capacity of railmounted gantry cranes shows a more significant effect on the performance of transshipment operation than other factors. The negative effect caused by insufficient handling capacity could be alleviated by methods like prolonging the feasible service time of trains and enhancing the operational capacity of shunting engines.

Optimization and Simulation on Tanker Vessels Scheduling for Efficient Terminal Operations Tanker shipping is a very important operation in maritime to transport liquid cargoes across the world. Optimizing tanker ship operations to improve operation efficiency and reduce extra waiting time in ports is a pivotal task. In this study, four optimizer algorithms are proposed and examined for scheduling tanker vessels optimally under three simulated scenarios. The optimization takes a quantified Key Performance Indicator (KPI), which is an indicator regarding to utilization of terminal, as our prime reference. The optimization and simulation results show that Max Timing First Optimizer (MaxTFO) outperforms the other three optimizers in the scenarios. The MaxTFO enhances terminal efficiency by 5.27% at most compared to Timing Sequential Optimizer (TSO), and Monte Carlo Optimizer (MCO) is more applicable and robust for limited and narrow window of future vessel and cargo information. The proposed optimizers could be further developed to handle more practical scenarios, such as multiplecargo and multipleterminal visits for coordinative optimization across multiple terminals in a port.