Simulation and optimization of container terminal operations: a case study

Container terminals are facing a set of interrelated problems. Container handling problems at container terminals are NP-hard problems. The docking time of container ships at the port must be optimized. In this paper we have built a simulation model that integrates all the activities of a container terminal. The proposed approach is applied on a real case study data of container terminal at El-Dekheilla port. The results show that the proposed approach reduced the ship turnaround time in port where 51% reduction in ship service time (loading/unloading) in port is achieved.