A Tactical Planning Model for Liner Shipping Companies: Managing Container Flow and Ship Deployment Jointly

This paper addresses two practical problems from a liner shipping company, i.e., the container flow management problem and the ship deployment problem at the tactical planning level. The joint optimization model, as well as, a sequential model, is formulated to solve the problems. Our results show the company should implement the joint optimization model at the tactical planning level to improve the shipping capacity utilization rather than the sequential model used in the current practice. Repositioning of empty containers is also considered jointly with the loaded container flow at the tactical planning level. Some important managerial insights into the operational and business processes are gained.