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E-mail: z.zenzerovic@gmail.com
SINIA VILKE, Ph.D.
E-mail: svilke@pfri.hr
NATAA ANTONINI, M.Sc.
E-mail: natasaa@pfri.hr
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Maritime Studies
Studentska 2, HR-51000 Rijeka, Republic of Croatia
1. INTRODUCTION
Since the eightieth's of the last century the world container traffic has shown a continuous
and intensive development generated by the growth of global transport and the advantages of
containerization, such as: the safety of goods inside containers, easier and faster cargo
handling, the reduction of the turn-around time of ships in port and the integration of different
transport modes into a unique transport chain by door to door service. The container
transport is nowadays the most perspective way of transporting cargo for which the further
growth being predicted within the world foreign trade exchange.
The optimal capacity planning is one of the conditions for efficient functioning of a port
container terminal. However, since the fluctuations of container reload conditioned by the
uneven arrival of ships to the terminal and uneven duration of manipulations with containers
1
This scientific paper is the research result on the project: Quantitative Methods in the Function of the
Optimal Management of Marine Systems, project number: 112-1121722-3308, which is financed by the
Ministry of Science, Education and Sport of the Republic of Croatia.
caused by various factors, it is not simple to determine and size in practice an optimal
capacity of a port container terminal. From the port service customer point of view it would
be ideal for the terminal to handle the reserve capacity that should be applied to container
reload necessity in case of current maximum capacity achieving of the terminal. However, the
mentioned additional capacity would reduce the usage degree of the terminal and increase a
part of fixed charges in its business activity.
The capacity of the port container terminal [1, pp.168] represents the amount of throughput
of certain berths of the terminal in the selected time unit. As the capacity of the berth
determines the throughput of the entire system of the container terminal, and indirectly the
adequate capacity of the other subsystems of the terminal, the problem of determining optimal
capacity of the port container terminal is reduced to calculating an optimal number of berths.
One of the ways of determining the optimal capacity of a port container terminal is the
application of quantitative methods, of which in this paper the queuing theory was
implemented.
In respect to the research object, in this paper the following hypothesis has been set: for
the optimal capacity planning of the port container terminal a model of total costs based on
the queuing theory can be applied. By applying this model a combination of the number of
berths and cranes at the berth with the minimum costs for the given traffic of the terminal is
determined, whereby the optimal functioning of the terminal can be achieved.
The function of the total costs was published by P. Schonfeld and S. Frank in 1984 [2, pp.
56-62] for a container port with one berth. Later, in 1995 Z. Zenzerovi in her dissertation [3,
pp. 224-244] expands the model on the port with several berths and through graphics and
calculations determines the change of every type of costs depending on the number of berths
and cranes. . Dundovi and Z. Zenzerovi publish in 2000 [4, pp. 217-221] the model of
costs for the general cargo port. The previous model is in the book System Optimisation of
Croatian Container Ports in 2001 [5, pp.73-98] applied on real data for container terminal at
the Port of Rijeka. The extension of the previous researches [6, pp. 45-69] is related to the
cost model with the formulas for some types of costs modified and applied to the container
terminal at the Port of Rijeka.
In order to apply the cost model that is based on the queuing theory it is necessary to
define the port container terminal as a serving system with adequate parameters, which is
shown in papers [1, pp. 169], [7], [8], [9], [10], and then to calculate the indicators of a port
container terminal operation using queuing theory formulas from books [11, pp. 20-26], [12]
or, which is more practical, to apply relevant software, i.e. WINQSB [13].
In this paper in the first place the impact analysis of container terminal capacity on the total
ship stay at terminal is performed as one of the essential indicators for the efficient business
activity of the terminal. Following, introducing the costs as optimization criterion, the cost
model that can be applied in optimal capacity planning of the terminal, tested on an example
of container terminal at the Port of Rijeka, is set.
2.
The berth capacity is defined by the number of ships that can be serviced in an observed
time unit at a determined berth. For terminals with more berths the total capacity is calculated
with the formula
S ,
(1)
where:
S number of container berths
berth service rate (the number of ships that can be serviced in a time unit).
As mentioned, the port container terminal capacity depends on the number of berths and
the throughput of each berth, so it is useful to determine in which way and to what extent
these parameters affect the total ship stay at the terminal, and thus the total costs.
2.1.
Since the port container terminal is defined as a serving system, the impact of the number
of berths on the total ship stay at a terminal can be tested using the queuing theory [3, pp.141147], [11, pp.42-46].
If the ship arrival rate and the serving time Wserv are constant, then the increase of the
number of berths S affects the progressive decrease of the average time of ship's waiting WQ
and the total time of ship stay at the terminal W, and the value for which the time of ship stay
at the terminal will be reduced depends on the values of berth occupancy and the number of
berths S.
The difference W S 1 W (S ) can be calculated by the difference LQ ( S 1) LQ ( S )
that is obtained by the following equation (the formula derivation is shown in detail by the
dissertation [3, pp. 143-144])
LQ (S 1) LQ ( S )
S 1
1
P0 (S ) P0 ( S 1)
2
S!
(S ) ( S 1) 2
S
1 ... ( S ) 3 2 S ( S ) S
S!
S 1
2 S ( S 1) 2 0 ,
( S 1)!
(2)
where:
S
W
LQ
P0
number of berths
berth occupancy, = /
time of ship stay at terminal
number of ships in queue
probability that there are no ships at the terminal.
In assumption that the number of berths S and the ship arrivals rate are constant, then
any increase of the service rate affect the progressively reduction of the average duration of
service time Wserv and the total time of ship stay at the terminal W.
The total time of a ship stay at the terminal is calculated with the formula [11, pp. 20-26]
W
S 1
2
S 1 ! S
2
S
S 1
2
S ! S ! S
(3)
The difference of time of a ship stay at the terminal when the berth occupancy changes to
the value of h ( h 0 ) is hW W ( h) W () .
The change value of the total time of ships stay at the terminal is calculated by the
following equations (detailed formula derivation is shown by the dissertation [3, pp. 138140]):
- if the change value of berth occupancy is given
4
hW h W
1
S
P0
W ( ) 1
(S 1)! (S ) 2
2
P0
S 1
1
(
S
,
S ( S ) 2 (S 1)!
h
h
1
hW 1 W 1 ,
h1
2 h1
where:
P0
h
h1
(4)
(5)
(6)
In order to simplify the determining of the difference value hW the values of the numeric
expression X W () according to the number of berths (from 1 to 10) and the berth
occupancy (from 0.1 to 0.9) are calculated and shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Values X W () in relation to the number of berths and the berth
occupancy
Note:
/S
P0
Pw
LQ
WQ
0.3465
65.3534
34.6466
0.1837
0.5301
0.2560
0.7388
0.1732
70.4691
5.1157
0.0107
0.3572
0.0149
0.4977
0.1155
70.7053
0.5541
0.0007
0.3472
0.0010
0.4838
S - number of berths; P0, Pw probabilities (in %), LQ i L related to ships, WQ, W time
(days)
From Table 3. it is concluded that the change of the number of berths (by constant and
) affects the increase, respectively the decrease, of the indicators values of container
terminal. Namely, by an increase of the number of berths, the following indicators are
reduced: the average number of ships in queue as well as at the terminal, the average time of
ship's waiting, the time of ship stay at the terminal and the probability of waiting; but the
vacancy of berth is increased.
Further to the previous conclusions it follows the question how to define the number of
berths as well as the capacity of other elements included in the serving process at the
container terminal, since it is not possible to eliminate both the ship's and berth's waiting.
For taking such a decision it is necessary to introduce a certain criterion, for example, the
percentage of berth usage, the duration of ship's waiting in queue or the number of ships in the
queue, thereby the indicator representing the criterion that is considered most important for
the effective functioning of container terminal is chosen.
The efficiency is increased either by increasing the number of berths or reducing the
average serving time; in the first case the vacancy of berths will increase, and in the second
case it is possible the effect on the quality of service and reduce the number of ship arrivals.
Therefore the efficiency of the container terminal can be best determined by using the value
indicators, in other words by applying the model of costs.
3.
The cost model of port container terminal is presented with the function of total port costs
(C) which includes the following costs: berths costs (Cb), costs of container cranes (Cd ), costs
of transport-handling equipment (Cpp ), crane operator costs (Cld ), operator costs (Clp ),
stacking area costs (Cwh ), costs of ship stay in the port (CW ) and cargo costs (CQ ).
Therefore, the function of total costs of the container terminal system has the form:
C C b C d C pp Cld C lp C wh CW CQ ,
(7)
where C is the symbol for total costs of the port container terminal expressed in money units
in the observed time unit, for example in /hr.
The amount of a single type of cost is calculated with the matching formulas (8) (25):
Cb S cb
Cd S d cd
C pp p c pp
(8)
(9)
(10)
C ld d t ld cld
(11)
C lp n clp
(12)
C wh k wh a c wh
(13)
CW W cW
(14)
CQ W Q cQ
(15)
where:
S
cb
i 1 i N b
1
c b B0
Mb
.
N
365
24
B0
Nb
i
Mb
(16)
d
cd
i (1 i ) N d
1
.
cd D0
Md
Nd
365
24
D0
Nd
Md
p
cpp
i 1 i N pp
1
c pp P0
pp
N pp
365 24
(1 i )
1
P0
Npp
Mpp
d
tld
(17)
(18)
However, if tld is less than the minimal operating time in each shift, for example 7 hours,
then the port pays minimal hours, and not the real value tld. That means that tld = max (tld, tmin),
where tmin stands for the minimal duration of working shift.
Symbol d in formula (11) refers to the number of crane operators, and in formula (19) to
the number of cranes. The difference between the number of cranes and crane operators
occurs because of the fact that one crane is operated by 2 crane operators.
cld
n
clp
kwh
a
cwh
(20)
c wh
Wh0
Nwh
Mwh
W
cW
i (1 i) N wh
1
Wh 0
M wh
N wh
(1 i) 1
365 24
(21)
average time of ship stay at container terminal, i.e. the ship's time spent in a queue and
the ship's servicing time on the berth (hr/ship),
cost per unit of ship stay at container terminal (/h) calculated on the basis of the
initial ship value, the economical life cycle of a ship and the annual costs of ship
maintenance according to formula
N
i 1 i W
1
cW W0
MW
NW
(1 i) 1
365 24
W0
NW
MW
(22)
Value W is one of the indicators of the port functioning obtained by applying the queuing
theory, and the manner of calculating depends on the type of problem of the queue
considering the elements that determine the type of problem of the queue: distribution of ship
arrival, distribution of serving time, serving discipline and number of berths. The types of
queues M/M/l/ and M/M/S/ are used for this paper since they are the most common cases
of serving processes in port container terminals.
The average time of ship stay at container terminal with more berths is calculated with
formula
W WQ 1 /
(23)
WQ
WQ
S 1
( S 1)! ( S ) 2
S 1 n
n0 n ! S! (1 / S )
(24)
(25)
Because of practical reasons, for costs calculation the applying of relevant software is
recommended.
3.2. CASE STUDY - CONTAINER TERMINAL AT THE PORT OF RIJEKA
The container terminal of the Port of Rijeka has two berths: I. berth, the Kostrensko quay
south and II. berth, the Kostrensko quay west. The southern berth is 295 m long and the
sea depth 12 m at the quay, while the western berth is 164 m long with the sea depth of 11 m
at the quay.
On the western berth the older port container crane Metalna is located. This crane was
moved from the south quay in 2009 in order to increase the operating capacity of the terminal.
Since the limited crane outreach and the possibility for lower containers lifting, Metalna is
used only for the handling of smaller container ships, when the south berth is not available.
There are two port container cranes of the manufacturer Samsung on the southern berth,
whose technical-technological features ensure the existing needs of the container terminal.
The actual total surface area of the container terminal in the Port of Rijeka is around 140
000 m2 while the stacking surface is 56 100 m2. Immediately, the horizontal transporthandling machinery that includes reachstackers and tugmasters with trailers and semi-trailers
is used for ship and stacking operations at the terminal.
The parameters values of the model of total costs of the container terminal in the Port of
Rijeka are the following:
Number of berths
S=2
B0 = 2 040 301
B0 = 1 050 107
Interest rate
i=5
Nb = 50 years
Mb = 204 030.10
Mb = 105 010.70
Number of cranes
- I. berth
- II. berth
d=1
d=2
D0 = 1 736 689
D0 = 5 382 517
Nd = 10 years
Md = 173 668.90
Md = 538 251.70
p=1
p=2
p=3
p=6
p=3
10
- 2 ship gangs
p=6
P0 = 338 750
P0 = 140 000
P0 = 35 000
Npp = 7 years
= 0.0026 ship/hr
= 0.0299 ship/hr
d=2
d=4
x = 116 TEU/ship
x = 454 TEU/ship
y = 0.042 hr/TEU
Interference coefficient
- 1 ship gang
- 2 ship gangs
f = 1.00
f = 0.85
Number of operators
- 1 ship gang
- 2 ship gangs
n = 15
n = 30
a = 4.35 m2/TEU
tm = 1 hr
W0 = 28 706 760
NW = 20 years
MW = 574 135.20
Q = 116 TEU/ship
Q = 454 TEU/ship
cQ = 2.7 /hr .
Applying the model shown in section 3.1. and the previously mentioned actual data of
container terminal at the Port of Rijeka, two variants are compared:
A 2 berths, 3 cranes; two on I. and one on II. berth.
B 2 berths, 2 cranes; one on I. and one on II. berth.
11
The single costs are included in Table 4. For the details regarding single costs calculations
see the paper [6] mentioned in the literature.
Table 4. Total costs of container terminal at the Port of Rijeka (/h)
Variant (/h)
Type of cost
A
Cb
Cd
54,60
327,54
54,60
186,52
Cpp
80,70
53,80
Cld + Clp
179,15
120,61
Cwh
5 664,00
5 664,00
CW
179,24
430,29
CQ
654,71
1 591,50
7 139,94
8 101,32
Total
With the application of variant B, that takes into account the momentary stacking area
capacity of the terminal and achieved traffic in 2010, but with the usage of one crane per
berth, the costs of the cranes, transport-handling equipment and human resource are reduced,
as expected. However, there is a significant increase of ship costs that finally leads to
increasing total costs for nearly one thousand /h in relation to variant A.
So, in conditions of the existing traffic and terminal capacity, the optimal solution is
variant A with two berths and three cranes.
Beside the application for the existing traffic, the shown model can be applied for future
expected traffic, which is shown in paper [6], and thus be the basis for taking adequate
business decisions.
4. CONCLUSION
For optimal functioning of the container terminal it is especially important to define the
capacity of the terminal that affects the possibility of achieving the production plan, and the
realisation plan for port services.
The problem of determining the optimal capacity of the port container terminal is reduced
to calculating the optimal number of berths, since the capacity of berths determines the
necessary capacity of the other subsystems of the port container terminal, and the throughput
of the entire container terminal.
One of the ways of determining the optimal capacity of port container terminal is the
application of quantitative methods, namely, queuing theory. This paper shows the cost model
that determines the combination of number of berths and cranes per berth with the least costs
for the given traffic of the terminal.
The cost model of the container terminal is presented with the function of total port costs
that contains the following costs: berths costs, costs of container cranes, costs of transporthandling equipment, crane operator costs, operator costs, costs of stacking surface, costs of
ship stay in the port and cargo costs. The single costs are calculated by appropriate formulas.
12
The decision regarding the optimal solution, or the optimal capacity of the container
terminal is established by comparison of different variants depending on traffic, number of
berths and cranes per berth.
The application of the cost model enables to take the right business decisions for any
terminal and for the terminals in present and future business conditions, which proves the
hypothesis set in the introduction of this paper.
The model is tested on the real data of the container terminal at the Port of Rijeka.
According to obtained results and in conditions of the existing traffic and terminal capacity,
the optimal solution is the variant with two berths and three cranes.
LITERATURE
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]