Posted: October 26th, 2023

The optimization research of Southeast Asian container liner routes

The optimization research of Southeast Asian container liner routes
—
Container liner shipping is a vital mode of transportation for international trade, especially for countries in Southeast Asia (SEA) that have extensive coastlines and depend on maritime connectivity. However, container liner shipping is also facing various challenges such as overcapacity, low freight rates, environmental regulations, and market consolidation. These challenges affect the operational efficiency and profitability of container liner shipping companies, as well as the competitiveness and accessibility of ports and regions. Therefore, it is important to optimize the container liner routes in SEA to enhance the performance of the container shipping industry and the regional economy.

This paper aims to conduct an optimization research of Southeast Asian container liner routes, focusing on the main East-West trade route between Asia, Europe and the United States. The paper will use a mixed-integer linear programming model to formulate the container liner route optimization problem, considering the factors such as demand, supply, costs, revenues, service frequency, transit time, port capacity, vessel size, and alliance membership. The paper will also analyze the impact of different scenarios such as demand growth, fuel price change, carbon tax implementation, and alliance reshuffling on the optimal container liner routes.

The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 provides a literature review on the container liner route optimization problem and its applications in SEA. Section 3 describes the methodology and data sources used in this paper. Section 4 presents the results and discussion of the optimization model and the scenario analysis. Section 5 concludes the paper and provides some recommendations for future research.

Literature Review
—
Container liner route optimization is a complex and dynamic problem that involves many decision variables and constraints. It aims to find the optimal combination of ports, vessels, and services that can maximize the profit or minimize the cost of a container liner shipping company or an alliance, while satisfying the demand and supply requirements of the market. Container liner route optimization can be classified into two types: strategic and tactical. Strategic optimization focuses on the long-term planning of container liner routes, such as determining the number and location of ports, the frequency and capacity of services, and the fleet size and composition. Tactical optimization focuses on the short-term planning of container liner routes, such as adjusting the sailing speed, loading factor, and port rotation of vessels according to the fluctuations in demand and supply.

Several studies have proposed mathematical models and solution methods for container liner route optimization problems. For example, Meng et al. (2014: 2024 – Essay Writing Service | Write My Essay For Me Without Delay) developed a bi-objective mixed-integer linear programming model to optimize the strategic design of container liner routes under uncertain demand. They used a two-phase approach that combines scenario analysis and Pareto optimization to obtain robust solutions. Wang et al. (2016: 2024 – Do my homework – Help write my assignment online) proposed a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model to optimize the tactical design of container liner routes under stochastic demand. They used a sample average approximation method to solve the model efficiently. Zhang et al. (2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online) formulated a mixed-integer linear programming model to optimize the strategic design of container liner routes under carbon emission regulations. They used a branch-and-cut algorithm to solve the model effectively.

However, most of these studies focused on global or regional container liner routes without considering the specific characteristics and challenges of SEA. SEA is a subregion of Asia that consists of 11 countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam. SEA has a population of about 650 million people and a gross domestic product (GDP) of about $3 trillion in 2020 (World Bank, 2021). SEA is also one of the most dynamic and diverse regions in the world, with different levels of economic development, political stability, cultural diversity, and natural resources.

SEA plays a significant role in global container liner shipping, as it is located at the crossroads of major East-West trade routes between Asia, Europe and the United States. According to UNCTAD (2022), SEA accounted for 42% of exports and 64% of imports in global maritime cargo handling in 2021. In addition,

Order | Check Discount