1. Multi-port vs. Hub-and-Spoke port calls by containerships
- Author
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Imai, Akio, Shintani, Koichi, and Papadimitriou, Stratos
- Subjects
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HARBORS , *CONTAINER ships , *NUMERICAL analysis , *CONTAINERIZATION , *MATHEMATICAL programming , *TRADE routes , *SHIPPING companies , *MANAGEMENT - Abstract
Abstract: This paper addresses the design of container liner shipping networks taking into consideration container management issues including empty container repositioning. We examine two typical service networks with different ship sizes: multi-port calling by conventional ship size and hub-and-spoke by mega-ship. The entire solution process is performed in two phases: the service network design and container distribution. A wide variety of numerical experiments are conducted for the Asia–Europe and Asia–North America trade lanes. In most scenarios the multi-port calling is superior in terms of total cost, while the hub-and-spoke is more advantageous in the European trade for a costly shipping company. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2009
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