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Operations Research for the management of a transhipment container terminal: The Gioia Tauro case

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Maritime Economics & Logistics Aims and scope

Abstract

In this work we describe some decisional problems arising in the management of maritime container ports, together with optimisation models and algorithms suitably designed for their solution. We refer to the Gioia Tauro container terminal which recently has reached a high stage of growth, becoming one of the most important transhipment ports in the Mediterranean Sea. In particular, we focus on quay-side problems (berth allocation and quay crane scheduling), yard-side problems (tactical and operational yard management), vehicle routing problems and human resources management problems. The common final aim, in facing the above problems, is to improve the efficiency, and thus the competitiveness of the container terminal.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jean-François Cordeau, Manlio Gaudioso, Gilbert Laporte and Pasquale Legato, who cooperated with us on these fascinating research themes. We are also grateful to the two anonymous referees for their valuable comments that helped to improve the quality of the final paper. This work was partially supported by Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca and by Regione Calabria under the Research Project:/PROMIS-Distretto Tecnologico della Logistica e della Trasformazione/.

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Correspondence to M Flavia Monaco.

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Monaco, M., Moccia, L. & Sammarra, M. Operations Research for the management of a transhipment container terminal: The Gioia Tauro case. Marit Econ Logist 11, 7–35 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/mel.2008.21

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