A simulation approach for performance evaluation of proposed automated container terminals

Abstract

Booming in the world trade, scarcity of land for yard expansion in many ports, and deployment of new massive megaships have magnified the need for finding better ways of performing container terminal operations. High-density Automated Container Terminals (ACTs), with high operation efficiency and requiring less hand, can thus become potential candidates for meeting future demand for higher capacity. In this paper, several high-density ACT systems are proposed and designed to meet the future projection made by several ports. A microscopic simulation model is developed and used to simulate the different ACT systems for the same operational scenario. The performance results and characteristics of the ACT systems are used as inputs to a cost model in order to compare their cost for meeting the demand for high capacity. The simulation results show that the proposed ACT systems can meet the future capacity demand of ports by requiring less land and at lower cost depending on various factors, such as the cost of land, labor etc that are described and analyzed. The implementation of the proposed automated concepts will require additional studies where labor issues and concerns about job losses due to automation need to be addressed.