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This paper addresses the design of container liner shipping networks taking into consideration container management issues including empty container repositioning. We examine two typical service networks with different ship sizes: Multi-port calling by conventional ship size and Hub-and-Spoke by mega-ship. The entire solution process is performed in two phases: the service network design and container distribution. A wide variety of numerical experiments are conducted for the Asia-Europe and Asia-North America trade lanes. In most scenarios the Multi-port calling is superior in terms of total cost, while the Hub-and-Spoke is more advantageous in the European trade for a costly shipping company.

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