multi-agent systems for container terminal management

IntroductionFrom the figures presented in Table 1, some projects such as DibdenBay, UK and Cuxhaven, Germany, which have spent over € 100 millionfor planning, may not be realized for various reasons, such as environmental.The number of years from decision to realisation that ittakes to physically increase CT capacity by building new terminals orextending existing ones can be between two to over ten years. Meanwhile,existing CT capacity in some regions, such as North WesternEurope, have very high utilization rates for their CTs.In Table 2 a list of the seven largest CTs and other CTs in this regionshows that many of the large CTs are reaching their maximumcapacity. Though the other CTs have a mean utilisation rate of 41%they are not considered by many ship lines for various reasons, such asthe road and rail infrastructure, warehousing, customs organisations,sea access. The large CTs represent traditional centres of trade havedeveloped to a point that requires additional capacity to handle increasingcontainer traffic.Table 2. North-West European Container Terminal Utilisation in 2004PortUtilisation RateAntwerpen 92,9%Bremerhaven 95,5%Felixstowe 77,1%Hamburg 93,2%Le Havre 89,6%Rotterdam 92,5%Southampton 99,3%Other Ports in N. W. Europe 41,9%Total for N. W. Europe 86,6%Source: Drewry Consultants [1]From the situations described which are afflicting CTs not only inNorthern Europe but world wide, calls are made by CT managers foralternative methods in unmasking the problems that weaken CT performance.This thesis focuses on improving the performance by theefficient use of available resources through computer-based supportfor management decision making as well as automation. It has beenargued that the ‘software’ rather than the ‘hardware’ will be the de-3