The storage location assignment problem for outbound containers in a maritime terminal

This paper addresses the storage location assignment problem for outbound containers. The problem is decomposed into two stages. The yard bays and the amount of locations in each yard bay, which will be assigned to the containers bounded for different ships, are determined in the first stage. The exact storage location for each container is determined in the second stage. The problem in the first stage is solved by a mixed integer programming model, while a hybrid sequence stacking algorithm is applied to solve the problem in the second stage. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is effective and efficient in solving the storage location assignment problem for outbound containers.