This study addresses the dual challenges of optimizing navigation efficiency and ensuring secure transportation for containers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) port cluster—a region characterized by extreme vessel density and complex regulatory interactions. Leveraging a multi-agent simulation framework, we evaluate two contrasting channel scenarios aligned with long-term planning: Scenario A (widened channel, 385m bottom width, full port resource development) and Scenario B (planned channel, 15% narrower, partial shoreline utilization), both targeting a predicted annual vessel traffic of 71,275 trips. Results reveal that while channel widening reduces uncompleted passages by 49.8%, LNG vessel navigation rules (e.g., strict one-way restrictions for 20,000–147,000 m³ LNG carriers) induce significant container ship delays, exceeding PIANC service thresholds by 78–80%. A novel “limited two-way navigation + convoy scheduling” strategy is proposed, demonstrating a 64.2% reduction in annual delayed trips and 6.1% shorter average delay times under safety-compliant encounter conditions (e.g., 80000 m³ LNG ships with 800m safety buffers for 100000 DWT container ships). This research provides a scalable framework for balancing safety and efficiency in congested port clusters, with direct relevance to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and beyond.
Shen et al. (Sun,) studied this question.