Discrete Berth-Scheduling Problem

Abstract

The problem of discrete space berth scheduling arises in seaside operations at marine container terminals. This complex problem receives ongoing attention from the research community because operators of marine container terminals deal with it on a daily basis. Despite this interest, most published research does not adequately capture the objectives and restrictions facing terminal operators in the berth-scheduling process. A new mathematical formulation is presented for the discrete space berth-scheduling problem that attempts to capture most of the terminal operators' objectives and move closer to a unified mathematical formulation for the problem. The proposed formulation subsumes the majority of the published berth-scheduling model formulations with a significant reduction in the feasible solution space while retaining linearity of both the objective function and the constraints.