Search results for "Draft limits"

The Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem with Draft Limits

2023

Over the past two decades, international maritime transport has been characterized by the advent of ever larger ships. This phenomenon is known as naval gigantism. If, on the one hand, naval gigantism allows to reduce transport costs by exploiting the economies of scale achievable by large ships, on the other hand, it implies a series of operational issues. Indeed, due to their large draft, such giant vessels are not allowed to enter small ports when fully or near-fully loaded, and in some cases, they cannot enter such small ports at all. In fact, their draft can strongly vary depending on the load on board. This implies restrictions for vessels in accessing ports, which impact not only at …