IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/popmgt/v32y2023i10p3043-3061.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How to operate ship fleets under uncertainty

Author

Listed:
  • Yiwei Wu
  • Shuaian Wang
  • Lu Zhen
  • Gilbert Laporte
  • Zheyi Tan
  • Kai Wang

Abstract

Ships operated by a liner company are scattered around the world to transport goods. A liner company needs to adjust its shipping network every few months by repositioning its ships to respond to uncertain container shipping demand. Few studies investigate a liner company's multiperiod heterogeneous fleet deployment problem under uncertainty, considering fleet repositioning, ship chartering, demand fulfillment, cargo allocation, and adaptive fleet sizes. To this end, this study formulates a mixed‐integer linear programming model that captures all of these elements. This study also designs a Benders‐based branch‐and‐cut algorithm for this non‐deterministic polynomial‐time (NP)‐hard problem. Two types of acceleration strategies, including approximate upper bound tightening inequalities and Pareto‐optimal cuts, are applied to improve the performance of the algorithm. Extensive numerical experiments show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms CPLEX and its Benders decomposition framework in solving the model. We conduct an intensive analysis and find that multistage stochastic programming can lead to better solutions than two‐stage stochastic programming. We also find that 10% of the benefit provided by the multistage model over the two‐stage model is due to better fleet deployment decisions and that 90% of the benefit is due to better demand fulfillment and allocation decisions. By exploring three practical questions regarding driver analysis of liner company profitability, benefits analysis of adaptive fleet sizes, and the influence of the COVID‐19 pandemic on liner shipping, we show how liner companies can benefit from managerial insights obtained in this study.

Suggested Citation

  • Yiwei Wu & Shuaian Wang & Lu Zhen & Gilbert Laporte & Zheyi Tan & Kai Wang, 2023. "How to operate ship fleets under uncertainty," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(10), pages 3043-3061, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popmgt:v:32:y:2023:i:10:p:3043-3061
    DOI: 10.1111/poms.14022
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.14022
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/poms.14022?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jean-François Cordeau & Federico Pasin & Marius Solomon, 2006. "An integrated model for logistics network design," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 59-82, April.
    2. Vedat Bayram & Hande Yaman, 2018. "Shelter Location and Evacuation Route Assignment Under Uncertainty: A Benders Decomposition Approach," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(2), pages 416-436, March.
    3. Wetzel, Daniel & Tierney, Kevin, 2020. "Integrating fleet deployment into liner shipping vessel repositioning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    4. T. L. Magnanti & R. T. Wong, 1981. "Accelerating Benders Decomposition: Algorithmic Enhancement and Model Selection Criteria," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 464-484, June.
    5. Teodor Gabriel Crainic & Michel Gendreau & Pierre Dejax, 1993. "Dynamic and Stochastic Models for the Allocation of Empty Containers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 41(1), pages 102-126, February.
    6. Dong, Jing-Xin & Lee, Chung-Yee & Song, Dong-Ping, 2015. "Joint service capacity planning and dynamic container routing in shipping network with uncertain demands," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 404-421.
    7. Iris F. A. Vis & Kees Jan Roodbergen, 2009. "Scheduling of Container Storage and Retrieval," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(2), pages 456-467, April.
    8. Wang, Shuaian, 2013. "Essential elements in tactical planning models for container liner shipping," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 84-99.
    9. Hanif Sherali & Brian Lunday, 2013. "On generating maximal nondominated Benders cuts," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 210(1), pages 57-72, November.
    10. Christiansen, Marielle & Fagerholt, Kjetil & Nygreen, Bjørn & Ronen, David, 2013. "Ship routing and scheduling in the new millennium," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 228(3), pages 467-483.
    11. Akyüz, M. Hakan & Lee, Chung-Yee, 2016. "Service type assignment and container routing with transit time constraints and empty container repositioning for liner shipping service networks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 46-71.
    12. Chung‐Yee Lee & Shengnan Shu & Zhou Xu, 2021. "Optimal Global Liner Service Procurement by Utilizing Liner Service Schedules," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(3), pages 703-714, March.
    13. Lee, Chung-Yee & Song, Dong-Ping, 2017. "Ocean container transport in global supply chains: Overview and research opportunities," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 442-474.
    14. Faramroze G. Engineer & Kevin C. Furman & George L. Nemhauser & Martin W. P. Savelsbergh & Jin-Hwa Song, 2012. "A Branch-Price-and-Cut Algorithm for Single-Product Maritime Inventory Routing," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 60(1), pages 106-122, February.
    15. Chen, Jingxu & Jia, Shuai & Wang, Shuaian & Liu, Zhiyuan, 2018. "Subloop-based reversal of port rotation directions for container liner shipping network alteration," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 336-361.
    16. Qiang Meng & Shuaian Wang & Henrik Andersson & Kristian Thun, 2014. "Containership Routing and Scheduling in Liner Shipping: Overview and Future Research Directions," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(2), pages 265-280, May.
    17. Christiansen, Marielle & Hellsten, Erik & Pisinger, David & Sacramento, David & Vilhelmsen, Charlotte, 2020. "Liner shipping network design," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 286(1), pages 1-20.
    18. Christian Va Karsten & Stefan Ropke & David Pisinger, 2018. "Simultaneous Optimization of Container Ship Sailing Speed and Container Routing with Transit Time Restrictions," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(4), pages 769-787, August.
    19. Zhen, Lu & Hu, Yi & Wang, Shuaian & Laporte, Gilbert & Wu, Yiwei, 2019. "Fleet deployment and demand fulfillment for container shipping liners," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 15-32.
    20. Omar Besbes & Sergei Savin, 2009. "Going Bunkers: The Joint Route Selection and Refueling Problem," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 694-711, February.
    21. Yossiri Adulyasak & Jean-François Cordeau & Raf Jans, 2015. "Benders Decomposition for Production Routing Under Demand Uncertainty," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(4), pages 851-867, August.
    22. Kevin Tierney & Björg Áskelsdóttir & Rune Møller Jensen & David Pisinger, 2015. "Solving the Liner Shipping Fleet Repositioning Problem with Cargo Flows," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(3), pages 652-674, August.
    23. A. M. Geoffrion & G. W. Graves, 1974. "Multicommodity Distribution System Design by Benders Decomposition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(5), pages 822-844, January.
    24. Pearce, Robin H. & Forbes, Michael, 2018. "Disaggregated Benders decomposition and branch-and-cut for solving the budget-constrained dynamic uncapacitated facility location and network design problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 270(1), pages 78-88.
    25. Walter Rei & Jean-François Cordeau & Michel Gendreau & Patrick Soriano, 2009. "Accelerating Benders Decomposition by Local Branching," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 333-345, May.
    26. Jun Xia & Kevin X. Li & Hong Ma & Zhou Xu, 2015. "Joint Planning of Fleet Deployment, Speed Optimization, and Cargo Allocation for Liner Shipping," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 922-938, November.
    27. Yadong Wang & Qiang Meng & Haibo Kuang, 2019. "Intercontinental Liner Shipping Service Design," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(2), pages 344-364, March.
    28. Berit D. Brouer & J. Fernando Alvarez & Christian E. M. Plum & David Pisinger & Mikkel M. Sigurd, 2014. "A Base Integer Programming Model and Benchmark Suite for Liner-Shipping Network Design," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(2), pages 281-312, May.
    29. Kai Huang & Shabbir Ahmed, 2009. "The Value of Multistage Stochastic Programming in Capacity Planning Under Uncertainty," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(4), pages 893-904, August.
    30. Debjit Roy & René De Koster & René Bekker, 2020. "Modeling and Design of Container Terminal Operations," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 68(3), pages 686-715, May.
    31. Meng, Qiang & Wang, Shuaian, 2012. "Liner ship fleet deployment with week-dependent container shipment demand," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 222(2), pages 241-252.
    32. Ng, ManWo, 2014. "Distribution-free vessel deployment for liner shipping," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 238(3), pages 858-862.
    33. Wang, Tingsong & Meng, Qiang & Wang, Shuaian & Tan, Zhijia, 2013. "Risk management in liner ship fleet deployment: A joint chance constrained programming model," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-12.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wetzel, Daniel & Tierney, Kevin, 2020. "Integrating fleet deployment into liner shipping vessel repositioning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    2. Ksciuk, Jana & Kuhlemann, Stefan & Tierney, Kevin & Koberstein, Achim, 2023. "Uncertainty in maritime ship routing and scheduling: A Literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 308(2), pages 499-524.
    3. Lai, Xiaofan & Wu, Lingxiao & Wang, Kai & Wang, Fan, 2022. "Robust ship fleet deployment with shipping revenue management," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 169-196.
    4. Ragheb Rahmaniani & Shabbir Ahmed & Teodor Gabriel Crainic & Michel Gendreau & Walter Rei, 2020. "The Benders Dual Decomposition Method," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 68(3), pages 878-895, May.
    5. Wang, Yadong & Wang, Shuaian, 2021. "Deploying, scheduling, and sequencing heterogeneous vessels in a liner container shipping route," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. Rahmaniani, Ragheb & Crainic, Teodor Gabriel & Gendreau, Michel & Rei, Walter, 2017. "The Benders decomposition algorithm: A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 259(3), pages 801-817.
    7. Chen, Jingxu & Jia, Shuai & Wang, Shuaian & Liu, Zhiyuan, 2018. "Subloop-based reversal of port rotation directions for container liner shipping network alteration," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 336-361.
    8. Xi Jiang & Haijun Mao & Yadong Wang & Hao Zhang, 2020. "Liner Shipping Schedule Design for Near-Sea Routes Considering Big Customers’ Preferences on Ship Arrival Time," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-20, September.
    9. Du, Yuquan & Meng, Qiang & Wang, Shuaian & Kuang, Haibo, 2019. "Two-phase optimal solutions for ship speed and trim optimization over a voyage using voyage report data," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 88-114.
    10. Meng, Qiang & Lee, Chung-Yee, 2016. "Liner container assignment model with transit-time-sensitive container shipment demand and its applicationsAuthor-Name: Wang, Shuaian," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 135-155.
    11. Wang, Shuaian, 2015. "Optimal sequence of container ships in a string," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 246(3), pages 850-857.
    12. Christian Va Karsten & Stefan Ropke & David Pisinger, 2018. "Simultaneous Optimization of Container Ship Sailing Speed and Container Routing with Transit Time Restrictions," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(4), pages 769-787, August.
    13. Zhen, Lu & Wu, Yiwei & Wang, Shuaian & Laporte, Gilbert, 2020. "Green technology adoption for fleet deployment in a shipping network," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 388-410.
    14. Teodor Gabriel Crainic & Mike Hewitt & Francesca Maggioni & Walter Rei, 2021. "Partial Benders Decomposition: General Methodology and Application to Stochastic Network Design," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(2), pages 414-435, March.
    15. Sun, Qinghe & Li, Wei & Meng, Qiang, 2024. "Single-leg shipping revenue management for expedited services with ambiguous elasticity in transit-time-sensitive demand," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    16. Koza, David Franz, 2019. "Liner shipping service scheduling and cargo allocation," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 275(3), pages 897-915.
    17. Wang, Yadong & Meng, Qiang, 2021. "Optimizing freight rate of spot market containers with uncertainties in shipping demand and available ship capacity," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 314-332.
    18. Zheng, Jianfeng & Qi, Jingwen & Sun, Zhuo & Li, Feng, 2018. "Community structure based global hub location problem in liner shipping," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1-19.
    19. Wang, Shuaian & Liu, Zhiyuan & Bell, Michael G.H., 2015. "Profit-based maritime container assignment models for liner shipping networks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 59-76.
    20. Moussawi-Haidar, Lama & Nasr, Walid & Jalloul, Maya, 2021. "Standardized cargo network revenue management with dual channels under stochastic and time-dependent demand," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 295(1), pages 275-291.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:popmgt:v:32:y:2023:i:10:p:3043-3061. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1937-5956 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.