Container liner fleet deployment: A systematic overview

Container liner fleet deployment (CLFD) is the assignment of containerships to port rotations (ship routes) for efficient transport of containers. As liner shipping services have fixed schedules, the ship-related operating cost is determined at the CLFD stage. This paper provides a critical review of existing mathematical models developed for the CLFD problems. It first gives a systematic overview of the fundamental assumptions used by the existing CLFD models. The operating characteristics dealt with in existing studies are then examined, including container transshipment and routing, uncertain demand, empty container repositioning, ship sailing speed optimization and ship repositioning. Finally, this paper points out four important future research opportunities: fleet deployment considering ship surveys and inspections, service dependent demand, pollutant emissions, and CLFD for shipping alliances.