SEASONAL SLOT ALLOCATION PLANNING FOR A CONTAINER LINER SHIPPING SERVICE

This research addresses a slot allocation planning problem of the container shipping company for satisfying the estimated seasonal demands on a liner service. We explore in detail the influenced factors of planning and construct a quantitative model for the optimum allocation of the ship's slot spaces. An integer programming model is formulated to maximize the potential profits per round trip voyage for a liner company, and a real life example of an eastern Asia short sea service has been studied. Analysis results reveal that containers with the higher contributions like reefers and 40 feet dry containers have priorities to be allocated more than others, but not all because of satisfying necessary operational constraints. Our model is not only providing a higher space utilization rate and more detailed allocation results, but also helpful for the ship size assessment in long-term planning.