A Simulation Model of a Sailing Container Terminal Service in the Port of Rotterdam

This paper examines the structure, operation, required input data and the output of a simulation model that is used for a simulation investigation for a Sailing Container Terminal (SCT) for the port of Rotterdam. The SCT will be used to tranship small consignments of containers between the inland waterway and feeder vessels and the shore based container terminals of the port of Rotterdam. The objective is to reduce the turnaround time of the vessels and to increase the efficiency of the transhipment of the containers themselves. In addition the SCT will be used to transport containers between the various terminals, in other words for Inter-Terminal Transport (ITT). The model is generic with respect to the following features: All necessary shipping lines, each with characteristic container flows, origin and destination distributions can be defined. All shore based terminals involved can be defined, each with a set of container cranes, inter-terminal flow characteristics, opening regimes and geographic data. A choice can be made from all types of rendezvous and operation strategies of the SCT. Experiments with the model indicated that under certain conditions, an SCT service system is feasible in the Port of Rotterdam.