Delft University of Technology
Faculty Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering Transport Technology / Logistic Engineering
P.B.M. ten Bosch Simulatiemodel voor de afhandeling van container binnenvaart. Masters thesis, Report 92.3.LT.3021, Transport Technology, Logistic Engineering.
In 1990, Europe Combined Terminals B.V. and the Rotterdam Port Authorities launched the 'Delta 2000-8' plan, in which handling of container shipping at the Maasvlakte is envisaged on a very much larger scale then at present. The project wilt entail an approximate doubling of the current quay length, amount of cranes and storage capacity, reading to a projected six-fold growth of the flow of barge shipping to and from the Maasvlakte during the years leading up to the year 2000.
The expected growth of barge traffic created a need for the development of a handling concept for barge shipping, resulting in a minimal amount of internal transport (container traffic on the port terrain), while still providing a sufficient service to the barge shipping lines. A handling concept is in effect the allocation of handling locations with cranes and quay length, taking into account circumstantial information like the availability of quay length and cranes, as well as the composition of the ship's load in terms of terminals of origin and terminals of destination.
The possible concepts can be split into three basic categories: Separate handling of barge shipping and sea shipping.
Mixed handling of barge shipping and sea shipping, where the handling of barges can take place at a maximum of one location. Mixed handling of barge shipping and sea shipping, where the handling of barges can be spread over several locations.
To test the effects of the different concepts, a simulation model of the handling of container shipping in a port was written. The resuits produced by the model are expressed as follows:
The total time spent in port by barges. The excess of normtime by barges. The amount of terminals visited by barges.
The amount of internal transport in kilometres and kilometres per hour.
After completion of the model, several experiments were performed from which the following conclusions were drawn:
The total operation time of ships in the model is 20% faster than in reality. Conclusions from results produced by the model must take this into account.
The model satisfies the requirement of showing the effects of different handling concepts. The resources needed to implement a given handling concept can be determined with the model. The model can also be used to test the effect of different methods of determining ship priorities.
Finally, when experimenting with the model, one must take into account the assumptions made when building the model. Reports on Logistic Engineering (in Dutch)
