Quay crane scheduling for multiple hatches vessel considering double-cycling strategy

Abstract

Purpose The development of mega container ships and operational pressures puts forward higher requirements on the operational ability of the container terminal. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to propose an effective method for quay crane (QC) scheduling of multiple hatches vessel considering double-cycling strategy to improve the operation efficiency and reduce the risk of delay. Design/methodology/approach A mixed integer programming model, which covers the main operational constraints in a container terminal, is formulated to solve the quay crane scheduling problem (QCSP) with a novel objective. Findings A case study is presented and a number of numerical experiments are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed model. Meanwhile, management insights are proposed. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can efficiently solve QCSP in a container terminal, and an interesting finding is that reducing the stack layers on the vessel can improve the operation efficiency of QC. Originality/value A new mathematical model is proposed for QC scheduling at the operational level, which considers the constraints of double-cycling strategy, multiple hatches and hatch covers. The proposed model also provides methods to research the QC double-cycling problem considering the balance between energy cost and operation efficiency.

Scheduling optimization of quay crane operation in container terminal considering container relocation in yard

“…Frank Meisel and Matthias Wichmann (2010) studied the problem of turning containers on ships in the context of the dual-cycle operation of the quay crane in [2]. He Junliang (2019) et al optimized the scheduling of quay crane operations with the objective of the maximum number of dual-cycles in [3]. Zhu Shengyan (2022) et al focused on the optimization of the joint scheduling of the quay crane and yard truck in conjunction with the yard stowage in [4].…”

3D Crane Site Reconstruction with Lifting Path Displaying by a Top-view Camera

“…Payload lifting should consider all the possible potential hazards which have been discussed in [6]. To help improve the safety and working efficiency of the crane operation, a lot of research concentrating on the automated on-site lifting path planning [7][8][9], lifting simulation [10][11][12], and operation management [13][14] are conducted in recent years.…”

“…The lifting path planning is a promising way to improve the crane operation safety and efficiency. Many researches about the lifting path planning is either assuming that the crane's working space is known in advance or making a rough estimation about the crane's workspace [13]. And the planned lifting path is demonstrated to the crane operator with a table of intense numbers.…”

Simulation of Multi-Crane Single and Dual Cycling Strategies in a Container Terminal

“…Kamble et al [12] identified a number of application barriers to the extensive use of double cycling in solving real-life problems. Recently, the study of He et al [13] deals with QC scheduling of multiple hatches vessel taking into account the double-cycling strategy. They consider the balance between energy cost and operating efficiency.…”