Ship waiting time at a quay: the effect of modifying the quay length and the ship arrival interval (summary)

Delft University of Technology

Faculty Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering Transport Technology / Logistic Engineering

H.J.M. Fernhout Ship waiting time at a quay: the effect of modifying the quay length and the ship arrival interval. Computer program, Report 2001.LT.5517, Transport Technology, Logistic Engineering.

In the design of seaports the focus is mainly on the dimensions of the terminals and not on the dimensions of the quay. To design more cost-effective seaports every aspect needs to be considered. The quay length should not be over-dimensioned, just because no usable tools to determine the size were available.

The program 'Quay Project' is written to get an insight in the effect quay length and load factor have on the berth delay. The programming is done in Delphi with Tomas as a tool. The program offers the users a tool to study the influence of changes of certain variables, among these are: the length of the quay, the amount of cranes, the lengths of the ships and amount of cargo.

After running three similar simulations, it can be concluded that quays cannot have a very high load factor (more than 60%) because the berth delay would get too long. Secondly: quays with a smaller ship arrival interval can have a higher load factor, without increasing the berth delay.

When the detail of the program is not satisfactory, the program can be altered in many ways. However, for some modifications the effect on the end result of a long-term simulation can be very small.

With the program 'Quay Project' a basic insight in quay modeling can be acquired. The program simulates the effect of modified parameters on (among others) the waiting time and the quay load factor.

Reports on Logistic Engineering (in Dutch)