Collaborative Optimization of Vessel Stowage Planning and Yard Pickup in Automated Container Terminals

The aim of this research is to minimize the number of container-rehandling operations in both the yard and on the ship in order to solve the problem of coordinated optimization of ship loading and yard container retrieval and enhance the loading efficiency of automated container terminals,. An optimization model that integrates the optimized decision-making of both the container retrieval order from the yard and the ship’s space allocation is developed, and an improved cuckoo algorithm is employed to solve the optimization problem. This paper examines the influence of container retrieval order from the yard on rehandling within the yard, as well as the effect of the ship’s space allocation on subsequent rehandling operations at the unloading port. Experimental results demonstrate that the solution derived from the comprehensive optimization model based on the improved cuckoo algorithm considerably reduces the overall number of overturned containers. This confirms that the proposed optimization model effectively enhances loading efficiency and reduces container rehandling both in the yard and on the ship. The analysis of experimental results indicates that the model and algorithm proposed in this paper have certain applicability.