A continuous berth template design model with multiple wharfs

Berth planning plays an important role in improving the efficiency of a container terminal. This study focuses on the berth template problem (BTP), which determines the berthing windows of the calling ships within a planning horizon (e.g. a week) in a cyclical way. As a mid-term tactical decision problem, BTP provides the decision support for a terminal operator to negotiate the contracts with the shipping lines. This study develops an integer programming (IP) model aiming to minimize the total deviation, given the ship-dependent target times preferred by the shipping lines. To validate the model and illustrate the benefits of its use, we perform a numerical experiment based on operational data of a specific container terminal in Southeast Asia. Two IP-based heuristic methods are developed to take into account the decision framework of terminal operators in reaction to demand increases. The experiment results indicate that the model and the solution approaches can enhance the resource utilization and operational efficiency of container terminals.