A decision-making system for container storage management in a seaport using the ant-colony optimisation algorithm

摘要

This article addresses the problem of container storage in a container terminal. Container terminals constitute essential intermodal interfaces for the global transport network. The optimal location for a container in a terminal is very important to port operators as it directly impacts the overall performance of the container terminal and helps maximise throughput due to the higher efficiency it provides. In our work, we propose an approach to solving the container storage problem by describing a decision model that simulates, solves and optimises available storage space to handle the departures and arrivals of full containers in a seaport. In other words, this is a model that minimises the total number of unnecessary movements while respecting the space and time dynamics of the environment. The interest of this work concerns the development of a software tool that identifies the best location for a container using the ant colony algorithm that is integrated into a decisional model. The latter is being proposed to the port operator for a possible choice.