Dynamic berth and quay crane allocation for multiple berth positions and quay cranes

We study in this paper a dynamic berth and quay cranes allocation strategy in general seaport container terminals. We develop a dynamical model that describes the operation of berthing process with multiple discrete berthing positions and multiple quay cranes. Based on the proposed model, we develop a dynamic allocation strategy using the model predictive control (MPC) paradigm. The proposed strategy is evaluated using real data from a container terminal in Indonesia. The simulation results show that the MPC-based allocation strategy can improve the efficiency of the process where the total handling and waiting cost is reduced by approximately 20% in comparison to the commonly adapted method of first-come first-served (FCFS) (for the berthing process) combined with the density-based quay cranes allocation strategy.