定期貨櫃航線之船期安排

Ship Scheduling for Container Liner

定期航運為海運市場中主要的經管型態，其中又以貨櫃船隊的運送為主。定期貨櫃航線運送講求定港、定線、定期、定時之服務特色。託運人根據所需，查詢定期航商所提供之船期表，擇其適合之船期進行託運;因此對於定期航商而言，制訂適當之船期表，使貨主的需求獲得最大的滿足，提高航商的競爭力，爭取更多的貨源，進而獲取最佳的利潤是個重要的課題。本研究昌在提出一個制訂船期表之方法，在每週每港定時靠泊下，考量(1)碼頭時窗;(2)運河開放時間;(3)收櫃結關日;(4)各停泊港口之偏好;(5)各港適當之緩街時間等特質，制定一個適當之船期表，為一混合整數規劃(mixed integer programming)問題;經航商所提供之航線實例求解，所獲結果可驗證此船期安排之適用性，並且優於目前航商所提供之船期表。此外透過敏戚性分析，本研究提出各港之最佳離港時段，並求算出離港延遲所應付出之代價，供航商作為參考。

Marine liners provide shipping services for containers and other general cargo, on fixed routes and on published schedules. With openly advertised schedules for shipments from various liners, shippers may then consign their shipments to the liner that offers the most economical and convenient liner services. Thus, an appropriate shipping schedule that fulfills cargo demand on the market will be a key factor for a liner in its pnrofit making as well as in maintaining its competitiveness as an ocean carrier. The objective Of this research is to develop a methodology to formulate the shipping schedule for a container liner. A mixed integer programming method is used to optimize profits by considering: (1) time slots at the ports of calls, (2) operating hours of major canals en-route, (3) office hours of customs at the ports of calls, (4) shippers' preferences in port of entry, and (5) buffer time to accommodate delay at the ports of calls. The method is proved to be an effective tool for increasing prdfits for a selected marine liner when compared with that by adopting its currentschedule. Besides, through sensitivity analysis, this research presents the best departure time and calculates the costs that shipping company needs to pay due to delay in the shipping schedule.