A dual-port vessel transportation model with outside anchorage, multiple waterways, inside anchorage, and berth assignment considerations

With nearly 90% of global trade moving by sea, the sheer growth of the world’s fleet has overwhelmed existing port capacity and sparked widespread operational delays. To address this, it is critical to enhance port efficiency and services to ensure the continued stability of international commerce. The proposed method optimizes the coordination of three port components: waterway, anchorage, and berth. It allocates anchorage and berths using multi-port waterways, considering the vessel and waterway’s dimensions, features, and capacity. Using a MINLP solver and GAMS, the model was converted into a programming language. Twenty vessels were employed to evaluate the equations under various constraints. The proposed model demonstrates superior efficiency, yielding a completion time of 2,865 hours and a waiting time of 942.54 hours. This is an improvement over the previous models’ marks of 3,816 hours for completion time and 954.43 hours of waiting time. The proposed system helps engineering managers efficiently allocate resources and improve vessel scheduling under challenging scenarios. This methodology allows port operators to find the best timetable within a defined planning horizon, resulting in significant benefits.