Locating dry ports on a network: a case study on Tianjin Port

A mathematical model for optimizing the location of dry ports is developed. The objective is to minimize the sum of the transportation costs and the fixed facility opening/closing costs. Unlike previous research on this subject, the possibility of closing existing dry ports is investigated. The dry port location problem is formulated as an integer programming and it is shown that the CFLP is a special case of our problem. The proposed model is then applied to the port of Tianjin in China and the sensitivity analysis is performed to demonstrate the robustness of the model. Our model suggests that while Tianjin Port should open some new dry ports, it might be better off closing those existing dry ports without enough throughputs. Although all parameters estimated should be uncertain in reality, sensitivity analysis shows that the results returned by the model are quite stable.     

考虑相邻工程的某港区总体建设方案

以某港区实际工程为例,在对建设条件梳理分析的基础上进行方案研究。针对复杂的掩护条件,根据周边工程实施进度分阶段确定掩护标准,选择合理的设计波要素。总体建设方案选择投资稍高但建设工期较短的离岸式高桩结构,先施工码头结构后再进行港池疏浚,有效缩短了建设工期。采用Plaxis岩土有限元软件分析港池疏浚对桩基的作用,结果表明考虑港池疏浚产生的土体变形后,桩基弯矩显著增大。本工程提出的分阶段确定掩护标准、码头离岸式布置、吹填形成陆域、先施工码头结构后疏浚港池的总体建设方案,取得了良好的效益。     

The link between economic and environmental performance of the top 10 U.S. ports

Ports currently face increasing demands to address a variety of environmental issues and achieve sustainability objectives. Using insights from the resource-based view of firms, this study examines the link between economic performance (EP) and environmental performance (ENP) of the top 10 U.S. seaports. Geospatial modeling is used to capture pollution incidents that can be geographically dispersed; in addition, both a bootstrap data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach and an undesirable DEA model are used to measure port ENP and EP. Our findings are in general consistent with assertions that positive EP can be attained in conjunction with good environmental practices. Ports’ capabilities of strategic capital investment in physical assets, collaborative interorganizational processes, and performance monitoring are essential, while they pursue both economic and environmental goals simultaneously.     

生态型港口规划理念研究

基于国内外生态港口发展历史和实践,提出生态型港口规划的愿景、原则,结合传统港口规划理念,分析生态型港口规划技术路线,丰富了港口规划体系。并以大连港太平湾港区规划为例,提出生态型港口规划概念性方案,明确了港口开发建设与生态要素协同发展的规划理念,为我国探索生态型港口规划提供了新思路。     

基于SAPSO-BP网络模型的港口潮汐实时预报

为了提高港口码头潮汐预报的精度,提出一种自适应变异的粒子群优化算法SAPSO,将SAPSO优化算法与BP神经网络结合,用以潮汐水位的实时预报。SAPSO-BP网络模型运用自适应变异的PSO算法优化BP神经网络的网络参数,克服了传统BP神经网络所具有的对初始权值阈值敏感、容易陷入局部极小值的缺点,最后选用Isabel港口的实测潮汐值数据进行潮汐水位的实时预报仿真试验,用以验证SAPSO-BP预测模型的实用性和可靠性。     

长江口12.5 m深水航道运行5年沪苏两地的效益响应

选择上海市及江苏省2个地区作为长江口深水航道受益对象,从宏观经济效益和社会效益2个层面分析评价长江口12.5 m深水航道运行5年沪苏两地的效益响应。结果表明,沪苏两地沿江港口的疏浚吞吐比整体有所下降,近5年降幅分别近15%和25%,2015年已分别减小至949 m~3/万t和327 m~3/万t。2011—2015年,沪苏两地因12.5 m航道产生的疏浚单方GDP增长量分别为目前国内疏浚成本单价的15~20倍和40~60倍,疏浚净效益相当可观。随着12.5 m深水航道江苏段的投入运行和沿江港口码头的改造升级,长江口深水航道的疏浚效益还将进一步增加。     

Port choice in container market: a literature review

As a result of the intense changes occurring in port environment over the last decades, new models of competitiveness have been developed, where port authorities try to increase their attractiveness. In this context, one of the most debated issues in this area of research is still the role played by port authorities in defining port competitiveness. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of port choice literature enabling to identify the main port choice’s criteria in order to define the role played by Port Authorities and to point out future lines of research that should be undertaken to fully incorporate current ports’ environment and performance. The results show that although some studies point out the importance of geographical factors in port choice, a larger number of studies defend the increasing role played by port authorities in determining the competitiveness through investing in port infrastructure, improving port efficiency or hinterland accessibility. Despite the existing models contributing on this topic, there are still some gaps in terms of measuring the port performance, including port strategies and studying the port choice for specific industries.     

Strategic beliefs of port authorities

Over the last decade, insights from the strategic management discipline have increasingly been applied to ports. A review of literature shows that in the analysis of port authority strategy, mainly outside-in approaches are applied. This paper adds to the emerging understanding of the port authority’s strategy by applying a cognitive perspective. Specifically, the strategic cognition of firms’ executives is one of the explanatory variables behind firms’ strategic decisions. Furthermore, cognitions are influenced by the organisational contexts in which port authority executives have worked. As a result, managerial “mental maps’ may vary across industry contexts and over time. This research investigates the strategic cognition of a global set of port authority executives through a survey-based instrument. The results show that, to a large extent, PAs resemble “regular” for-profit companies, but that they possess some specific beliefs that distinguish them from “regular” companies.     

Vehicle routing problem and driver behaviour: a review and framework for analysis

Vehicle routing problems (VRPs) whose typical objective is to minimise total travel costs over a tour have evolved over the years with objectives ranging from minimising travel times and distances to minimising pollution and fuel consumption. However, driver behaviour continues to be neglected while planning for vehicle routes. Factors such as traffic congestion levels, monotonous drives and fatigue have an impact on the behaviour of drivers, which in turn might affect their speed-choice and route-choice behaviours. The behaviour of drivers and their subsequent decision-making owing to these factors impact the revenue of transport companies and could lead to huge losses in extreme cases. There have been studies on the behaviour of drivers in isolation, without inclusion of the objectives and constraints of the traditional routing problem. This paper presents a review of existing models of VRP, planner behaviour models in the VRP context and driver behaviour models and provides a motivation to integrate these models in a stochastic traffic environment to produce practical, economic and driver-friendly logistics solutions. The paper provides valuable insights on the relevance of behavioural issues in logistics and highlights the modelling implications of incorporating planner and driver behaviour in the framework of routing problems.     

汉班托塔港规划建设的认识和思考

港口规划是基于建设条件、建设现状和对未来的发展预测等提出的指导和控制港口发展建设的纲领性文件.本文根据汉班托塔港的规划建设情况,结合港口发展的优劣条件,对汉班托塔港规划建设中面临的问题作出思考.