Network design and fleet allocation model for vessel operation

Containership operators in the U.S. are confronted with a number of problems in the way they make critical fleet allocation decisions to meet the increase of shippers' demands. Instead of the empirical approach, this research describes an optimization method for the fleet allocation problem This methodology is applied by generating hypothetical values for a hypothetical firm. The endeavor of this method is to facilitate ship operations by allocating available fleet to maximize capacity and covering all the demands with the lowest cost The problem solving process is subdivided into three sub-models: the string simulation sub-model, the network design sub-model, and the fleet and cargo assignment sub-model. Each sub-model is explored by the combined approach of analysis and simulation, formulated as a Mixed Integer linear programming problem, implemented using the Optimization Programming language, and solved by CPLEX. This model provides several feasible fleet allocation proposals ranked by their profits, as well as yields the output of the detail cargo assignment at each port, the revenue, cost, and profit breakdown for each proposal.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Li, Xiaojing, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Henry S. Marcus.

• Mechanical Engineering.
• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35686

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/35686