Foldable container in empty container repositioning in intermodal transportation network of Belt and Road Initiative: strengths and limitations

In 2013, the concept of the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (Belt and Road)’ was initiated by the Chinese government, which involves Asian, European and African continents and their adjacent seas. Logistics plays a core role in such a large framework of economy and trade. In recent years, China, European Union, and Southeast Asia pay much attention to the design and development of the intermodal transportation network towards both economic and environmental efficiency. In this paper, we propose an empty container repositioning model in the intermodal transportation network of Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative by considering both standard and foldable containers. In this model, empty containers are repositioned from the inland of the original area, such as China, to other areas of B&R Initiative related countries and regions, such as European Union and Southeast Asia. We develop a mixed integer linear programming model to determine the optimal repositioning of empty containers via the intermodal transportation network. An Artificial Bee Colony algorithm is developed to solve large size problems in practice and numerical experiments are conducted to show the efficiency of our proposed algorithm. We provide managerial insights regarding the impact on the network performance of foldable containers transportation.     

Sustainability and interactivity between cities and ports: a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach

Ports and cities are intrinsically linked. Port city, which serves as a link between the local and global economy, is an integration of both urban and port systems. Constrained by different regional structures, port cities have developed various formulations over time. Using a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, this paper proposes a new method for measuring the sustainable development of different port city systems. While the previous empirical studies often separate the port system and the urban system, this paper assesses the two systems in an integrated way. Moreover, this paper develops a systematic methodology for measurement of sustainability. Twenty world-leading container port cities are selected for this study using contemporary data. The DEA results display their relative differences in levels of sustainable development, which reveal the effectiveness of the prevailing policies in them. Eventually, recommendations are drawn for other port cities by referring to the best practices.     

Disaster prevention and strategic investment for multiple ports in a region: cooperation or not

With the growth of maritime transportation, seaports have become critical to the world economy as linking nodes between shipping and inland transport. However, the port system is fragile under certain unconventional emergency events. This study addresses the issue of investment on disaster prevention within the port competition context. The present model discusses and compares four situations of different relationships and strategies of pre-disaster prevention between two adjacent ports. Results indicate that both ports increase the disaster prevention investment under the cooperation scenario compared with that in the case of non-cooperation wherein they are complementary ports. Meanwhile, a numerical simulation is conducted to examine the collective and individual rationality of both ports. Although cooperation strategy decreases the total risk cost of two ports, one of the two ports may profit, whereas the other may suffer losses.     

The Storage Space Allocation Problem at a Container Terminal

Due to the asymmetry between the time required to retrieve a container to vessel and the time required to register a container at the gate, the storage space allocation problem solves the best allocation policy of these containers that minimizes the potential number of gantry movements during the assigning process and the future retrieval process. A decision rule-based heuristic is proposed, and three properties are discovered in this research. Comprehensive numerical experiments show that the proposed heuristic can solve the real-sized instances within a second, making it possible to account for uncertainty because the re-optimization effort is negligible. Moreover, when applying the proposed heuristic to a container yard at the Port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan and considering the extreme cases, the heuristic performs even better when the number of containers increases and still requires less than 1 s to solve these extreme cases. Finally, the proposed heuristic can be applied to different layouts of storage space and various material handling machines.     

Risk assessment framework for exposure of cargo and ports to natural hazards and climate extremes

There is an increase in risks and catastrophic losses in maritime transport including ports and cargo. Significant losses have been associated with large scale natural hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunami, cyclones, and other extreme weather events. This paper identifies the main gaps in understanding maritime risks in transportation research. The gaps are attributed to insufficient empirical work available from the maritime transport and logistics research community to guide multi-risk and natural hazards impact assessment on seaport and cargo. In addition, disaster studies communities have barely made adequate efforts to understand and assess port and cargo risks arising from multi-hazards and disaster events. This paper examines existing conceptual frameworks concerning exposure and risk assessments of natural catastrophe’s impacts. Furthermore, the paper identifies trends and gaps in risk assessment frameworks in the field of disaster studies that can be beneficial for maritime risk research. The authors propose a new risk assessment framework that can guide future research and multi-hazard risk assessment processes at different scales of maritime risks.     

港口干散货物流供应链信息协同运作模式分析

在国内外供应链管理研究及河北港口群煤炭业务现状调研分析的基础上,剖析现阶段港口煤炭供应链运营管理的问题。聚焦河北港口群煤炭供应链模式构建过程,梳理港口煤炭供应链管理流程,构建河北港口群供应链管理模式、物流协同模式、物流体系及物流供应链协同信息化支撑模式,解决制约港口煤炭供应链的信息共享不及时、信息流通不畅等问题。对港口煤炭供应链协同运作信息化体系进行总体框架设计,并选择典型平台建设探讨供应链协同运作信息化体系支撑实现模式,形成高效、科学、先进的河北港口群煤炭供应链管理模式。     

卸船作业模式下自动化码头AGV路径仿真优化

AGV作为自动化码头水平运输的设备,主要负责运输集装箱。受岸桥和场桥装卸能力、水平运输距离和集装箱作业量增加等因素影响,水平运输环节是制约自动化码头发展的瓶颈。结合港口码头作业实际,采用"模型+实例+仿真"的方法对自动化码头AGV路径优化问题进行研究。结合道路交通流理论,提出交通虚拟环岛策略以避免多AGV在码头行驶时产生冲突和拥堵。在卸船作业流程下,采用e M-Plant仿真软件,对提出的交通控制策略从不同角度进行仿真模拟。结果表明,AGV不同路径的选择影响着码头的作业效率。试验结果进一步提高码头作业效率,为自动化码头AGV路径优化提供参考依据。     

BIM技术在大型集装箱码头工程设计中的应用

上海国际航运中心洋山深水港四期工程是国内首个全自动化集装箱码头,以此为依托,针对BIM技术在集装箱码头工程设计中应用的问题进行总图、水工、机械等相关专业BIM技术应用的研究,将BIM技术与传统二维设计模式相融合,采用欧特克BIM系列软件以及探索者BIM协同平台,得出全自动化集装箱码头BIM总体设计技术路线,重点对BIM协同设计平台的应用流程以及设计相关专业的BIM应用方法进行探讨,为全自动化集装箱码头从传统二维设计向基于BIM技术全生命周期设计应用的转变提供参考。     

陆域口岸项目施工阶段BIM技术应用

根据BIM技术的特点,以某陆域口岸项目为工程背景,介绍了BIM技术在该项目施工全过程的主要应用点与技术成果。该项目全面使用BIM技术,为项目施工全过程提供有力的技术支撑,确保了工程施工质量、降低施工风险,使得项目安全可靠完成,并为今后类似项目在施工全过程使用BIM技术积累了丰富的经验。最后,对项目未来运维阶段的BIM技术运用指出了研究方向。     

港口高杆灯的无线智能控制系统设计

随着港口建设规模的扩大,港区堆场面积越来越大,配套的高杆灯及其他照明设施的数量也相应增加,需要一个自动化的、科学的管理方式和系统对其进行管理和控制。照明无线智能控制系统采用先进可靠的远距离无线通信技术,将人机操作界面和远程控制环节有机结合起来,实现对高杆灯的远距离无线控制。通过高杆灯无线智能控制系统,合理组合开启灯具数量和安排开启时间,智能调光,以达到高效节能、安全运行的良好效果。