Network assignment model of integrating maritime and hinterland container shipping: application to Central America

The authors develop a model to predict worldwide container movements including both maritime and land shipping network from the viewpoint of cargo owners, given the liner shipping network provided by shipping companies and the level of service in each port. The network assignment methodology is applied to both an intermodal shipping network and maritime shipping sub-network, by which the solution can be obtained in a huge, real-scale network including more than 150 worlds' container ports as well as some hinterland network of the world. The developed model is applied to the Central American region, where the international maritime containers are often transported across national borders by land. It is confirmed that the model output agrees with the actual container movement in terms of the container cargo throughput for each port, land container flow, and maritime flow by shipping company in Central America. Also, the model sensitivity to key parameters included in the model is confirmed reasonable. Finally, it is also confirmed that the model can predict the volume of containers handled in the port of La Union, where no liner service had previously called and a new liner service calls.