METAHEURISTICS FOR THE DISCRETE DYNAMIC BERTH ALLOCATION PROBLEM

Abstract

The aim of Berth Allocation Problem (BAP) is to optimally assign arrival vessels to quay area in both temporal and spatial aspects. Efficiency of container terminal operation depends largely on berth allocation process. Additionally, if the allocation is not properly planned it could lead to high operating cost. This paper studied BAP with the objective of minimizing operating costs; namely handling cost, waiting cost, lateness cost and earliness benefit. To reflect more realistic situation, we consider the case where handing time of each ship is corresponded to the number of quay crane assigned to it. Metaheuristics, namely Local Search and Variable Neighborhood Search were proposed to solve the problem. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of such approaches.