A comparative benchmarking analysis of main Iberian container terminals: a DEA approach

Benchmarking is an important tool to organisations to improve their productivity, product quality, process efficiency or services. From Benchmarking the organisations could compare their performance with competitors and identify their strengths and weaknesses. This study intends to do a benchmarking analysis on the main Iberian Sea ports with a special focus on their container terminals efficiency. To attain this, the DEA (data envelopment analysis) is used since it is considered by several researchers as the most effective method to quantify a set of key performance indicators. In order to reach a more reliable diagnosis tool the DEA is used together with the data mining in comparing the sea ports operational data of container terminals during 2007.Taking into account that sea ports are global logistics networks the performance evaluation is essential to an effective decision making in order to improve their efficiency and, therefore, their competitiveness.

Energy Consumption and Efficiency: Emerging Challenges from Reefer Trade in South American Container Terminals

This issue of the FAL Bulletin discusses the relevance of energy consumption as a basis for identifying energy efficiency potential and calculating the carbon footprints of ports and terminals in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), focusing on the Southern Cone countries of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Asset productivity at container terminals in Latin America and the Caribbean: 2005-2013

This issue of the FAL Bulletin shows productivity trends at container terminals in Latin America and the Caribbean during the period from 2005 to 2013, comparing them to the trend of earlier years (2000 to 2004). One of the conclusions of the study is that most terminals in the region have improved their quay productivity in recent years, although there are large differences between the three container terminal size categories analysed. However, the author identifies a number of challenges still to be met at the region’s ports.

Berth Management in Container Terminals: Quality of Service

This paper empirically evaluates container terminal service attributes. The methodology proposed focuses on statistical control. Based on the concept of service segmentation, the authors employed control charts to classify container terminal services. The purpose of control charts is to allow simple detection of events that are indicative of actual process change. This simple decision can be difficult where the process characteristic is continuously varying, the control chart provides statistically objective criteria of change. When change is detected and considered good its cause should be identified and possibly become the new way of working, where the change is bad then its cause should be identified and eliminated. Both theoretical and practical implications of the research findings are discussed in this paper.

Berth management in container terminals: quality of service

This paper empirically evaluates container terminal service attributes. The methodology proposed focuses on statistical control. Based on the concept of service segmentation, we employed control charts to classify container terminal services. The purpose of control charts is to allow simple detection of events that are indicative of actual process change. This simple decision can be difficult where the process characteristic is continuously varying; the control chart provides statistically objective criteria of change. When change is detected and considered good its cause should be identified and possibly become the new way of working, where the change is bad then its cause should be identified and eliminated. This paper is organized as follows: Section 1 is the introduction, Section 2 provides a brief note on other studies that inspired this research, section 3 focuses on the methodology used, and develops the results obtained and finally conclusions are shown in Section 4. Theoretical and practical implications of the research findings are discussed.

A methodology proposal to obtain operational parameter forecasts and operational risk assessment in container terminals

Las terminales de contenedores son sistemas complejos en los que un elevado número de actores económicos interactúan para ofrecer servicios de alta calidad bajo una estricta planificación y objetivos económicos. Las conocidas como "terminales de nueva generación" están diseñadas para prestar servicio a los mega-buques, que requieren tasas de productividad que alcanzan los 300 movimientos/ hora. Estas terminales han de satisfacer altos estándares dado que la competitividad entre terminales es elevada. Asegurar la fiabilidad de las planificaciones del atraque es clave para atraer clientes, así como reducir al mínimo el tiempo que el buque permanece en el puerto. La planificación de las operaciones es más compleja que antaño, y las tolerancias para posibles errores, menores. En este contexto, las interrupciones operativas deben reducirse al mínimo. Las principales causas de dichas perturbaciones operacionales, y por lo tanto de incertidumbre, se identifican y caracterizan en esta investigación. Existen una serie de factores que al interactuar con la infraestructura y/o las operaciones desencadenan modos de fallo o parada operativa. Los primeros pueden derivar no solo en retrasos en el servicio sino que además puede tener efectos colaterales sobre la reputación de la terminal, o incluso gasto de tiempo de gestión, todo lo cual supone un impacto para la terminal. En el futuro inmediato, la monitorización de las variables operativas presenta gran potencial de cara a mejorar cualitativamente la gestión de las operaciones y los modelos de planificación de las terminales, cuyo nivel de automatización va en aumento. La combinación del criterio experto con instrumentos que proporcionen datos a corto y largo plazo es fundamental para el desarrollo de herramientas que ayuden en la toma de decisiones, ya que de este modo estarán adaptadas a las auténticas condiciones climáticas y operativas que existen en cada emplazamiento. Para el corto plazo se propone una metodología con la que obtener predicciones de parámetros operativos en terminales de contenedores. Adicionalmente se ha desarrollado un caso de estudio en el que se aplica el modelo propuesto para obtener predicciones de la productividad del buque. Este trabajo se ha basado íntegramente en datos proporcionados por una terminal semi-automatizada española. Por otro lado, se analiza cómo gestionar, evaluar y mitigar el efecto de las interrupciones operativas a largo plazo a través de la evaluación del riesgo, una forma interesante de evaluar el effecto que eventos inciertos pero probables pueden generar sobre la productividad a largo plazo de la terminal. Además se propone una definición de riesgo operativo junto con una discusión de los términos que representan con mayor fidelidad la naturaleza de las actividades y finalmente, se proporcionan directrices para gestionar los resultados obtenidos. Container terminals are complex systems where a large number of factors and stakeholders interact to provide high-quality services under rigid planning schedules and economic objectives. The socalled next generation terminals are conceived to serve the new mega-vessels, which are demanding productivity rates up to 300 moves/hour. These terminals need to satisfy high standards because competition among terminals is fierce. Ensuring reliability in berth scheduling is key to attract clients, as well as to reduce at a minimum the time that vessels stay the port. Because of the aforementioned, operations planning is becoming more complex, and the tolerances for errors are smaller. In this context, operational disturbances must be reduced at a minimum. The main sources of operational disruptions and thus, of uncertainty, are identified and characterized in this study. External drivers interact with the infrastructure and/or the activities resulting in failure or stoppage modes. The later may derive not only in operational delays but in collateral and reputation damage or loss of time (especially management times), all what implies an impact for the terminal. In the near future, the monitoring of operational variables has great potential to make a qualitative improvement in the operations management and planning models of terminals that use increasing levels of automation. The combination of expert criteria with instruments that provide short- and long-run data is fundamental for the development of tools to guide decision-making, since they will be adapted to the real climatic and operational conditions that exist on site. For the short-term a method to obtain operational parameter forecasts in container terminals. To this end, a case study is presented, in which forecasts of vessel performance are obtained. This research has been entirely been based on data gathered from a semi-automated container terminal from Spain. In the other hand it is analyzed how to manage, evaluate and mitigate disruptions in the long-term by means of the risk assessment, an interesting approach to evaluate the effect of uncertain but likely events on the long-term throughput of the terminal. In addition, a definition for operational risk evaluation in port facilities is proposed along with a discussion of the terms that better represent the nature of the activities involved and finally, guidelines to manage the results obtained are provided.

Vehicle Distance Threshold for Quayside Operations of Container Terminals

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Scheduling of straddle carriers in a container terminal

Report for the scientific sojourn at the University of California at Berkeley between September 2007 to February 2008. The globalization combined with the success of containerization has brought about tremendous increases in the transportation of containers across the world. This leads to an increasing size of container ships which causes higher demands on seaport container terminals and their equipment. In this situation, the success of container terminals resides in a fast transhipment process with reduced costs. For these reasons it is necessary to optimize the terminal’s processes. There are three main logistic processes in a seaport container terminal: loading and unloading of containerships, storage, and reception/deliver of containers from/to the hinterland. Moreover there is an additional process that ensures the interconnection between previous logistic activities: the internal transport subsystem. The aim of this paper is to optimize the internal transport cycle in a marine container terminal managed by straddle carriers, one of the most used container transfer technologies. Three sub-systems are analyzed in detail: the landside transportation, the storage of containers in the yard, and the quayside transportation. The conflicts and decisions that arise from these three subsystems are analytically investigated, and optimization algorithms are proposed. Moreover, simulation has been applied to TCB (Barcelona Container Terminal) to test these algorithms and compare different straddle carrier’s operation strategies, such as single cycle versus double cycle, and different sizes of the handling equipment fleet. The simulation model is explained in detail and the main decision-making algorithms from the model are presented and formulated.

Container Terminal Simulation. A case study: port of Valencia.

This paper is concerned with the study of non-Markovian queuing systems in container terminals. The methodology presented has been applied to analyze the ship traffic in the port of Valencia located in the Western Mediterranean. Two container terminals have been studied: the public container terminal of NOATUM and the dedicated container terminal of MSC. This paper contains the results of a simulation model based on queuing theory. The methodology presented is found to be effective in replicating realistic ship traffic operations in port as well as in conducting capacity evaluations. Thus the methodology can be used for capacity planning (long term), tactical planning (medium term) and even for the container terminal design (port enlargement purposes).

Avaliação e optimização operacional: estudo do terminal de contentores de Alcântara

Trabalho Final de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica - Ramo Manutenção e Produção

Deterministic approach for multiple-source tsunami hazard assessment for Sines, Portugal

In this paper, we present a deterministic approach to tsunami hazard assessment for the city and harbour of Sines, Portugal, one of the test sites of project ASTARTE (Assessment, STrategy And Risk Reduction for Tsunamis in Europe). Sines has one of the most important deep-water ports, which has oil-bearing, petrochemical, liquid-bulk, coal, and container terminals. The port and its industrial infrastructures face the ocean southwest towards the main seismogenic sources. This work considers two different seismic zones: the Southwest Iberian Margin and the Gloria Fault. Within these two regions, we selected a total of six scenarios to assess the tsunami impact at the test site. The tsunami simulations are computed using NSWING, a Non-linear Shallow Water model wIth Nested Grids. In this study, the static effect of tides is analysed for three different tidal stages: MLLW (mean lower low water), MSL (mean sea level), and MHHW (mean higher high water). For each scenario, the tsunami hazard is described by maximum values of wave height, flow depth, drawback, maximum inundation area and run-up. Synthetic waveforms are computed at virtual tide gauges at specific locations outside and inside the harbour. The final results describe the impact at the Sines test site considering the single scenarios at mean sea level, the aggregate scenario, and the influence of the tide on the aggregate scenario. The results confirm the composite source of Horseshoe and Marques de Pombal faults as the worst-case scenario, with wave heights of over 10 m, which reach the coast approximately 22 min after the rupture. It dominates the aggregate scenario by about 60 % of the impact area at the test site, considering maximum wave height and maximum flow depth. The HSMPF scenario inundates a total area of 3.5 km2. © Author(s) 2015.

MCDA: análise de decisão multicritério como ferramenta de avaliação de instalações portuárias: o caso dos terminais de contêineres brasileiros

Este trabalho busca avaliar, com suporte da metodologia MCDA - análise de decisão multicritério, os terminais de contêineres brasileiros quanto a suas potencialidades como vetores de crescimento sustentado da economia, no médio e longo prazo, para priorização de investimentos públicos e privados. O trabalho se consubstancia em um levantamento bibliográfico do tema decisório, que lhe serve de base, seguido de um estudo do tema portuário, a fim de levantar os fatores que tornam viável o florescimento e desenvolvimento de um sítio portuário, além de buscar tendências do setor de contêineres no Brasil. Após estas etapas, foi desenvolvido uma modelagem para o problema de avaliação dos terminais, com ajuda do software Expert Choice. Os resultados obtidos apontam para uma alteração sensível de paradigma no panorama portuário nacional em um cenário futuro. Portos que hoje se localizam na parte superior da lista de movimentação de contêineres, à frente nas estatísticas, podem não ter para onde se expandir, enquanto outros, que se encontram menos pujantes, podem florescer nas próximas décadas, devido às características de cada sítio portuário. As mais relevantes foram selecionadas como critérios do modelo desenvolvido, são eles: águas abrigadas, retroáreas, acessos terrestres e marítimos, equacionamento de questões ambientais, localização estratégica, vocação regional, extensão de cais e áreas de expansão. Entre as conclusões deste estudo, pode-se citar: 1 - O Porto de Santos, tradicional líder do ranking nacional em movimentação de contêineres, deve se manter entre os primeiros, graças à sua proximidade com o principal centro econômico e industrial nacional, a região da grande São Paulo, embora esteja com sua capacidade perto do limite operacional, conta com áreas de expansão, como o projeto Barnabé-Bagres. 2 - Outro porto que se destacou na classificação final foi o de Itaguaí, já hoje com movimentação crescente e enorme potencial de crescimento na área de contêineres. Possui excelente condição de águas abrigadas, boa localização estratégica, entre Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo, dois pólos econômicos fortes, com influência decisiva no cenário nacional, e que dispõe de consistente plano de expansão, especialmente relacionado ao aumento de contêineres.

Criterios de calidad del servicio prestado en el ámbito de la línea de atraque de las terminales portuarias de contenedores

Esta Tesis Doctoral evalúa empíricamente la calidad del servicio en la línea de atraque de las terminales portuarias de contenedores. La metodología propuesta utiliza indicadores de calidad y se basa en el concepto de la segmentación de servicio. Para ello se desarrolla la teoría del Control Estadístico de Procesos (CEP) y se utilizan los gráficos de control para clasificar el servicio en las terminales de contenedores. El propósito de la Tesis es proporcionar una metodología basada en el Control Estadístico de Procesos (CEP) para evaluar la calidad del servicio y detectar las escalas de un servicio regular de línea que se encuentran fuera de control. Por tanto, la metodología se puede utilizar para detectar eventos que son indicativos de cambio real del proceso en la línea de atraque. Esta detección puede ser compleja pues las características de los procesos en terminales de contenedores son variables. La metodología proporciona mediante los gráficos de control criterios estadísticamente objetivos de cambio. Cuando el cambio es detectado y considerado bueno sus causas deben ser identificadas y posiblemente convertirse en la nueva forma de trabajar, cuando el cambio es negativo, entonces sus causas deberían ser identificadas y eliminadas. La Tesis Doctoral está organizado de la siguiente manera: La primera parte es la introducción, e incluye los capítulos 1 al 4, la segunda parte presenta el Estado del Arte (capítulo 5) y algunos de los estudios que han inspirado esta investigación, la tercera parte se centra en la metodología utilizada (capítulo 6) y su aplicación sobre un caso de estudio (capítulo 7). Finalmente, en la cuarta parte se presentan las conclusiones y se proponen algunas de las nuevas líneas de investigación que quedan abiertas (capítulo 8). This Thesis empirically evaluates the quality of service in the berthing face of container terminals. The methodology proposed is focused on quality of service indicators and is based on the concept of service segmentation. The Statistical Process Control (SPC) theory and the control charts are used to classify container terminal service. The aim of this Thesis is to provide a methodology based on Statistical Process Control that can evaluate the quality of service and also can detect scales of shipping liner service that are out of control. Therefore, the methodology can be used to detect events that are indicative of real change in the berthing process of container vessels. The methodology proposed allows simple detection of events that are indicative of actual process change in container terminals. This detection is complex because the characteristics of the processes are variable in the container terminals; the control chart provides statistically objective criteria of change. When change is detected and considered good its cause should be identified and possibly become the new way of working, where the change is bad then its cause should be identified and eliminated. This Thesis is organized as follows: The first part is the introduction (includes Chapters 1 to 4), the second part presents the State of the Art (Chapter 5) and some of the studies that have inspired this research. The third part focuses on the methodology used (Chapter 6) and its application to a case study (Chapter 7). Finally, Part 4 presents the conclusions and suggests future research (Chapter 8).

Metodología para maximizar la rentabilidad de una terminal marítima de contenedores a través de la optimización de su grado de automatización

Son generalmente aceptadas las tendencias actuales de maximización de la automatización para la adaptación de las terminales marítimas de contenedores a las cada vez mayores exigencias competitivas del negocio de transporte de contenedores. En esta investigación, se somete a consideración dichas tendencias a través de un análisis que tenga en cuenta la realidad global de la terminal pero también su propia realidad local que le permita aprovechar sus fortalezas y minimizar sus debilidades en un mercado continuamente en crecimiento y cambio. Para lo cual se ha desarrollado un modelo de análisis en el que se tengan en cuenta los parámetros técnicos, operativos, económicos y financieros que influyen en el diseño de una terminal marítima de contenedores, desde su concepción como ente dependiente para generar negocio, todos ellos dentro de un perímetro definido por el mercado del tráfico de contenedores así como las limitaciones físicas introducidas por la propia terminal. Para la obtención de dicho modelo ha sido necesario llevar a cabo un proceso de estudio del contexto actual del tráfico de contenedores y su relación con el diseño de las terminales marítimas, así como de las metodologías propuestas hasta ahora por los diferentes autores para abordar el proceso de dimensionamiento y diseño de la terminal. Una vez definido el modelo que ha de servir de base para el diseño de una terminal marítima de contenedores desde un planteamiento multicriterio, se analiza la influencia de las diversas variables explicativas de dicho modelo y se cuantifica su impacto en los resultados económicos, financieros y operativos de la terminal. Un paso siguiente consiste en definir un modelo simplificado que vincule la rentabilidad de una concesión de terminal con el tráfico esperado en función del grado de automatización y del tipo de terminal. Esta investigación es el fruto del objetivo ambicioso de aportar una metodología que defina la opción óptima de diseño de una terminal marítima de contenedores apoyada en los pilares de la optimización del grado de automatización y de la maximización de la rentabilidad del negocio que en ella se desarrolla. It is generally accepted current trends in automation to maximize the adaptation of maritime container terminals to the growing competitive demands of the business of container shipping. In this research, is submitted to these trends through an analysis taking into account the global reality of the terminal but also their own local reality it could exploit its strengths and minimize their weaknesses in a market continuously growing and changing. For which we have developed a model analysis that takes into account the technical, operational, financial and economic influence in the design of a container shipping terminal, from its conception as being dependent to generate business, all within a perimeter defined by the market of container traffic and the physical constraints introduced by the terminal. To obtain this model has been necessary to conduct a study process in the current context of container traffic and its relation to the design of marine terminals, as well as the methodologies proposed so far by different authors to address the process sizing and design of the terminal. Having defined the model that will serve as the basis for the design for a container shipping terminal from a multi-criteria approach, we analyze the influence of various explanatory variables of the model and quantify their impact on economic performance, financial and operational of the terminal. A next step is to define a simplified model that links the profitability of a terminal concession with traffic expected on the basis of the degree of automation and the kind of terminal. This research is the result of the ambitious target of providing a methodology to define the optimal choice of designing a container shipping terminal on the pillars of automation optimizing and maximizing the profitability of the business that it develops.