Routing straddle carriers for the loading operation of containers using a beam search algorithm

This paper discusses how to route straddle carriers during the loading operation of export containers in port container terminals. The objective of the routing is to minimize the total travel distance of straddle carriers in the yard. The routing problem is comprised of the container allocation problem and the carrier routing problem. In the container allocation problem, containers in the yard are divided into multiple classes, each of which will be loaded by a quay crane. The container allocation problem is formulated as a transportation problem. In the carrier routing problem, the sequence of yard-bays that a carrier visits is determined. A beam search algorithm is developed for the carrier routing problem. A numerical experimentation is carried out in order to evaluate the performance of the algorithm. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.