Scheduling ship operations in automated container terminals

For the efficient operation of automated container terminals, it is essential to synchronize all the operations of quay cranes, automated guided vehicles, and automated yard cranes. This study addresses a look-ahead scheduling of ship operations for synchronizing all the operations using different handling equipment. We have analyzed various precedence relationships among the different equipment operations. The precedence relationships are represented in graphical forms that were used to find the critical handling tasks, whose schedules must be changed to improve the productivity of ship operations. An improvement algorithm for the constructed schedule is suggested based on a simple neighborhood search. This scheduling method was evaluated using a simulation study.