72-79

• Μαλλίδης, Ιωάννης
• Dekker, Rommert
• Ιακώβου, Ελευθέριος
• Βλάχος, Δημήτριος
• Τσιτσάμης, Δημήτριος

Cost and time efficient operations are vital for port management nowadays due to the increasing port competition worldwide. A critical operation in the era of continuously increasing containerized cargo traffic is yard space management of container terminals (CTs). Inadequate space in a CT's yard increases a ships turnaround time and thus the amount of sunk cost that a shipping line will have to bare. This in turn reduces a CT's attractiveness and thus competitiveness. This paper aims to develop a generalized decision support methodology, applying queuing theory that will assist port operators to (a) model the delivery and receipt operations of a CT and (b) improve the service characteristics for specific yard management operations. Two alternative ways for improving a CT's service level are examined. The first involves the purchase of additional resources and the second involves the leveling of arrivals at the CT's gate along its operating hours. The usage of the proposed methodology is demonstrated through its application on Thessaloniki's CT while the obtained results will be discussed.

• Economics and Business
• Computer and information sciences

• Management
• Statistics

port management, yard space management, queuing theory

Περιέχει διαγράμματα, πίνακες και βιβλιογραφία, JEL Classification Codes: C15