Handling uncertainty in the quay crane scheduling problem: a unified distributionally robust decision model

Abstract Quay cranes are among the most important resources in port terminals, and their efficient use is crucial for terminals to remain competitive market. The problem of determining sequence tasks performed by quay that minimizes turnaround time a vessel an NP‐hard known as crane scheduling (QCSP). In this paper, we consider unidirectional QCSP under uncertain processing times, where only allowed move specific direction. We start presenting first distributionally robust optimization (DRO) model exact decomposition algorithm solve it. proposed DRO makes it possible derive stochastic programming appropriate choice risk‐averse parameter model. Through extensive numerical results, compare these three approaches—stochastic programming, optimization, DRO—to investigate whether significant differences solutions obtained exist. Finally, propose new method helping practitioners determine representative set different solutions.