Criteria for selecting innovative technologies for

Em?~elpqotctKfl'Epuuvct/Operational Research. An International Journal. Vol.3, No.3 (2003), pp.213-227

Criteria for Selecting Innovative Technologies for Maritime Transhipment Facilities

Athanasios Ballis Lecturer, Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece A n t o n y Stathopoulos Professor, Deparlment of Transportation Planning and Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece

Abstract The significant cargo volumes transferred by sea, in combination with the increased technological and operational requirements that international competition imposes, lead to the continuous upgrade of infrastructure and equipment of modern port terminals. Within this framework, a number of new technologies for the transhipment of unitised cargo have been developed and are available in the market. In order to increase the understanding of the potential user of the various transhipment system functionalities, a multi-tier software tool incorporating technical information, visual aids, expert opinions, success and failure cases, best practice from pilot implementations, simulation results and multicriteria decision aids, is currently under development. The context of this paper focuses on the core of the above analysis, which is a set of criteria related to operational and performance aspects of maritime facilities that are taken into consideration in the selection of new transhipment systems.

Keywords: Multi-criteria decision aid, assessment of innovative transhipment technologies

1. Introduction The decision making process conceming investments for maritime transport systems is usually the result of a systematic multicriteria analysis, mainly due to the complexity of the systems, the significant time required for the realization of such investments as well as due to the wide impact of these investments on the local and national economy. The need for a systematic investigation on relevant subjects is constant because the cargo flows transhipped by sea in combination with the increased operational and functional requirements imposed by the international antagonism lead to a continuous upgrade of infrastructure and equipment of modem port terminals. At European level, the role of

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the short-sea shipping sector is expected to be enhanced. This objective is clearly statec in the context of the Commission's White Paper, which focuses on the promotion oJ safe and environmental friendly transport modes. To this aim, various innovative technologies have been developed, to improve the cost efficiency and the quality oJ service offered by the short-sea shipping sector [EC-White Paper (2001)]. In Europe, the role and the importance of the short-sea shipping is expected to be increased in the near future as in the Commission's White Paper on Transport) stron8 political initiatives have been expressed towards the promotion of safe and environmental friendly modes. Within the above framework, a number of innovative technologies have been developed aiming at the improvement of the cost efficiency and the quality of service offered in the short-sea shipping sector. The aim of these transhipment technologies is not to radically reform the current face of port handling, but rather to act in a complimentary way, offering solutions that can be cost effective under specific operating conditions. In order to increase the potential user understanding on the various transhipment systems functionalities, an on-going European research project collects and analyses relevant technical information, expert opinions, success and failure cases, best practise from pilot implementations, modelling results etc [EC/DG-TREN (2000)]. This paper introduces the basic structure of a software tool (named ExTip) that is developed in order to accommodate and disseminate the above scientific material. Special focus is given on the description and evaluation of a number of criteria -related to operational and performance aspects of transhipment facilities- which are taken into consideration in the selection of new transhipment systems. Within the current paper, the maritime related transhipment systems are presented (railway and barge related systems are excluded). Short descriptions of the above innovative maritime systems investigated, are included in Section 2. Section 3 deals with the global structure of the software tool and presents the collection criteria. Section 4 presents the tools that are under consideration in the multicriteria decision support process. The conclusions are hosted in Section 5.

2. Innovadve maritime systems The significant cargo volumes transferred by sea, in combination with the increased technological and operational requirements that international antagonism imposes, lead to the continuous upgrade of infrastructure and equipment of modern port terminals. The automated transhipment systems as well as the StoraBox and Cassettes systems are considered as the state-of-the art of conventional systems/transhipment technologies in operation.

A. Ballis, A. Stathopoulos / Criteria for selecting innovative technologies for maritime transhipment facilities

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The Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV's) are self-driving and navigating robot vehicles that perform the internal transport of containers between the quay cranes and the robotized Automated Stacking Cranes (ASCs). The system introduced at the Rotterdam port in 1993 [EC/DG-TREN (2000)]. Since then, modifications were performed for the AGVs navigation system and the ASCs stacking height. The experience from its implementation reveals that the system can achieve efficient round the clock operation, high productivity, labour costs reduction [Ioannou et al. (2001)], while the high maintenance cost is presented to be its weakest point. The StoraBox is a Ro-Ro system (loading units are rolled-on and rolled-off in vessels through ramps by use of special equipment) based on very large -non stackable- container units (13.8m x 3.6m x 3.6m) that offer a maximum capacity of 70 tons. The system is in operation in the ports of G6teborg in Sweden and Zeebrugge in Belgium. The Cassette system is another Ro-Ro system based on special platforms ("cassettes") that enable a payload of 60 tons, which is three times the payload of a conventional 20 ft container unit. The aim of the system was to provide a cost effective method of handling, stowing and transporting paper and steel rolls from Sweden to UK and vice versa. The Cassette system was launched in 1997 and up to now it has proved successful [EC/DG-TREN (2000)1. The continuous effort to overcome the limitations of conventional equipment in port terminals, leads to the introduction of new concepts and technologies. A number of these new technologies aim to achieve high rates in the transhipment process unitised cargoes (ISO standardised containers or even container grouped on special platforms/wagons) transported by deep-sea vessels, while other technologies are dedicated to short-sea shipping transhipment. A number of these technologies (Container Pallet Transfer, Train Loader, Trans Sea Lifter, EuroExpress, Coaster Express, Trailer Cassette system, OCTOPUS, CERES) have been evaluated and some of them have been further developed through research work carried out in various projects co-financed by the European Commission [EC/DG-TREN (2000), EC/DGTREN (1997), EC/DG-Transport (1995)]. The Container Pallet Transfer (CPT) system consists of mega-pallets, special vessels, transfer trolleys moving on a track network, a quay to vessel ramp as well as a yard storage and truck service sub-system consisting of cranes [Hansen (1995)]. Each megapallet may contain up to 20 containers or alternatively can carry trailers, cars and general cargo. The mega-pallets are moved by special transfer trolleys that can transport the mega-pallets to the special vessels through a stem door and tracks layed on the deck [EC/DG-TREN (1997)]. The Train Loader is a short-sea concept that aims to reduce the vessel turn-around time in ports. The system is based on triple stacked rolling platforms that are rolledon/rolled-off in a specially designed vessel, equipped with under-deck cranes. By

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connecting 15 rolling platforms, a Train Loader is formulated. Since the containers are triple stacked, 45 containers are accommodated in one Train Loader, which remains onboard, until the next port of call [Wijnolst et al. (1993)]. The Trans Sea Lifter is a Catamaran-type vessel, able to carry barges on-board. Its purpose is to carry barges between inland waterways that are separated by an open sea, and therefore to extend the operations of the present inland waterways and coastal market. Loading and discharging the TSL is performed be submerging of the vessel [Wijnolst et al. (1993)].

EuroExpress is a fast (35-Knot) multi-level deck vessel equipped with an under-deck crane that aims to reduce the duration of the trip as well as the time that the vessel dwells in the port. A typical example can be found in the Finland to Germany route where a conventional Ro-Ro vessel spends 36 hours at sea and 12 hours in the ports (one way), whereas the EuroExpress was aiming to shorten the trip to 24 hours (18 hours at sea and 6 hours in ports) and to provide a daily service with 2 ships. Coaster Express is a short-sea transport system intended to cope with large-scale feeder operations. A typical terminal configuration consists of two berths, (each being equipped with two automated quay cranes) which serve simultaneously two coasters; one being loaded and one being unloaded. Standardized coasters, without hatch covers but with cell guides for standard containers and a capacity of 480 TEUs are the most appropriate vessel types for the system. The inter-terminal transport subsystem is consisting of AGVs. The Trailer Cassette system is based on special cassettes that can accommodate a conventional road trailer. That way, cellular Lo-Lo technology vessels (loading units are loaded and unloaded by use of harbour cranes) can be used instead of the -relatively more expensive- Ro-Ro vessels [Igielska (1994)]. The OCTOPUS and CERES systems were designed having in mind high throughput container terminals. The OCTOPUS system consists of 6 quay cranes in conjunction with a raised platform that allows the AGVs to get close and feed the cranes within limited time. The yard is served by automatic cranes and the whole process is managed by an advanced computerized control system. The CERES system enables the bilateral loading / unloading of the vessels in a U-shaped quay (5 on one side plus 4 on the other). The system incorporates an open storage area served by straddle carriers as well as a computerized terminal management system.


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3. Criteria for selecting innovative transhipment technologies for unitised cargoes In order to reveal the advantages and disadvantages of the above transhipment systems and to identify the operating conditions where each system can be efficient, a research project was launched [EC/DG-TREN (2000)]. The initial approach considered was a comparative analysis having the 'cost per container transhipment versus terminal volume' as the major criterion to determine the best choice. This approach has been implemented successfully using simulation models in order to identify the volume ranges where specific innovative rail-road transhipment systems perform favourably in comparison to conventional transhipment systems [Ballis and Golias (2002)] like reach stackers (mobile cranes with a spreader attached in the edge of their boom) or gantry cranes (rail mounted electric cranes or diesel/dieselelectric cranes on wheels). Nevertheless, it was realised that the expansion of this approach to cover a wide variety of transhipment systems covering the maritime (where this paper focuses) as well as the rail sector was not sufficient as the decision for the adoption of many of these innovations was crucially based on different than 'cost' and 'volume' criteria. Therefore, a multicriteria method was introduced following a multi-tier approach that aims to increase the user understanding on the various transhipment system functionalities through technical information, visual aids (figures, photos, animation), expert opinions, success and failure cases, best practises from pilot implementations as well as through the comparative analysis of alternative systems by use of queuing theory and simulation results. Among the various methods, GAIA and PROMETHEE can be considered as add-on tools that can facilitate the decision making process [Brans and Mareschal (1990), Brans and Mareschal (1994)]. Figure 1 presents the overall structure of the above tool. The target groups for such a tool are intermodal terminal operators (intermodal transport is defined as the movement of goods in one and the same loading unit) and combined transport operators (combined transport is defined as intermodal transport where the major part of the journey is by rail, inland waterways or sea [EUROSTAT et al.] that seek innovations in order to set up new transport services for their unitised cargoes as well as researchers that investigate technological issues in the transportation domain. The core of the software structure is a set of evaluation criteria, which are analytically presented hereinafter. 3.1

Type of loading units transhipped by the system

It's a fact that the ISO standardized containers the dominant loading unit type for the maritime and barge sector, since conventional deep-sea vessels cannot carry in their cell other unit types. Nevertheless, the ability for transfer/handling of inland containers,

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swap-bodies or trailer transfer, provides opportunities for attracting significant additional freight flows for the short-sea or the barge shipping. The CPT systems can accommodate inland containers, swap-bodies or trailer above their mega-pallets but since the vast majority of these unit types are not stackable, a significant loss of capacity is resulted. Similarly, the EuroExpress and the RollerBarge can accommodate swap bodies and trailers while the "Lo-Lo with Trailer Cassettes" system has been developed having trailer transport in mind. The Trans Sea Lifter vessel is a barge carrier designed to strengthen short-sea/barge networks.

Figure 1:

Overall architecture of a decision support tool for selecting innovative transhipmenttechnologies


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The experience from older barge-carrier systems (BACO, BACAT, Interlighter, SEABEE, LASH) is not very positive. Despite the initial expectations, these systems failed to gain significant market shares and only a limited number of these vessels, mainly of LASH type (barge-carrier that can lift barges through a gantry crane at the stern of the vessel and moves them forward to the point of stow) exist today [Fossey (1995)]. The reasoning for this negative market response was the requirement for double handling in ports (handling of barge and loading/unloading of containers from the barge) as well as the inconvenience and delay of barge handling (by the ship's lifting system) in rough sea.

3.2

Systemproductivity- handling rates

In order to overcome the limitations of conventional handling, the CPT System (which uses mega-pallets) and the Train Loader system (which uses rolling platforms) implement the technique of the container grouping. Nevertheless, additional (conventional) handling equipment is also required for the truck service, the yard storage activities and the mega-pallets (or platform-train) formation. The OCTOPUS and CERES system implement a significant number of quay cranes (6 and 9 cranes respectively) thus achieving high handling rates. Similarly, the TSL barge carrier reports high handling rates but it should be noted that this rate concerns the barge transhipment, while the barge-to-quay container transhipment is much lower. In order to facilitate the comparison between various alternative systems, a computer program application that allows the comparison of port scenarios having different shipto-shore service rates, was developed. Under a given input scenario (that includes the arrival rate of the vessels, the number and the service rate of the berths as well as the vessel arrival pattern and the service rate distribution) the program outputs the average vessel's waiting times in the system and in addition identifies the break-even-point (in terms of transhipment capacity) of the alternative systems. Output results exists in tabular form for various (frequently used in port design) queue M/M/S, M/D/S and E2/E2/S models (in the above a/b/S notation, a stands for the arrival distribution, b for the service distribution and S for the number of the parallel service stations, which are replaced by M for arrival or service times that follow the Poisson distribution, D for fixed arrival or service times and Ek for arrival or service times that follow the Erlang distribution with k stages) [Ballis and Stathopoulos (2002)].

3.3

Systemthroughput

The task of achieving high handling rates either through sophisticated technical solutions offering high productivity or through the implementation of many parallel devices is without doubt related to high investments. The term "system throughput" in the present analysis is interpreted as the minimum necessary traffic volume required to

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justify the investment of a typical equipment (and infrastructure) configuration that fulfils the operational specifications of the system. The majority of the investigated systems (see Table i) have been designed for large flows. Only the Train Loader is suitable for small freight flows.

3.4

Compatibility with the various existing transhipment forms

Shipping lines are organising their transport plan according to a transhipment form. Point-to-point services, sequence of port calls, and "hub and spoke" (shipping lines serve directly a limited number of big ports/hubs, that through feeder ships distribute the containers to smaller neighbouring ports/spokes) a big are the three forms distinguished for the associated criteria. The port equipment compatibility with the various existing transhipment forms [United Nations (1990)] is determined by the technical characteristics of the handling system, the maximum container volume per ship call, the compatibility with the existing/conventional handling equipment and the capacity of the associated transport mode (e.g. a dedicated vessel). CPT, StoraBox and Cassettes are systems that require special equipment or infrastructure in both ends of the journey and therefore comply better with a point-to-point service. The Train Loader requires also the existence of one or two special trains with rolling platforms in each port of call, but complies with a "sequence of port calls" operational concept due to the limited number of container exchange per call (2 X 90) as well as due to the fact that the containers can be rearranged during sailing. The remaining systems are compatible with all operating forms since conventional infrastructure and equipment can be used in the port of call for the handling of the vessel.

3.5

Degree of automation

The automatic freight handling reduces labour, which in some countries may be considered as a true social cost (without a direct bearing to the terminal operation). The majority of the innovative technologies in Table 1 are based on special/dedicated vessel types, innovative quay-to-ship transhipment devices and aim at a high automation level. On the contrary, the truck service is left to manual control since the truck drivers cannot always park with the accuracy needed for the automatic positioning systems and therefore a human intervention will be required [Ballis et al. (1997)].

3. 6

Stage of implementation of the system

Among the above-mentioned systems only the AGV/ASC, the StoraBox and the Cassette systems are in a mature phase. The AGVs and the ASCs are in operation since 1993 in Rotterdam. The StoraBox and Cassette systems operate successfully for some years but their use is restricted to their initial transport corridors and type of commodities. Their applicability to door-to-door operation is the next target.


3. 7

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Cost of the system

Although the cost parameter is essential in the decision making process, the retrieval of the relevant information is a difficult task, since the manufacturers of new equipment are not willing to circulate this kind of information. Even if cost information exists for a pilot system, it is, naturally, quite higher in relation to the cost that the system will have after its market implementation. In addition, many known cost information derives from studies. This is a significant fault as in such studies the systems investigated are considered to operate under ideal conditions and under "convenient" assumptions, that may differ from those considered in real conditions. Furthermore, the cost of a system depends on the related operating conditions. For example, the AGVs of the OCTOPUS system, which circulate inside the port terminal, have a lower cost than the associated AGVs currently operating at the port of Rotterdam, due to the fact that the latter AGVs were designed with the (additional) feature to circulate outside the port terminal area in order to transfer the containers to the neighbouring railway station. It must also be noted that the purchase cost of a system includes not only the formation and installation cost but also other cost parameters that are not easily defined, such as the depreciation cost related to the investment for the development of the system, royalties as well as the revenue of the manufacturer. Another cost aspect is the "initial funding" for the systems realization. Although for example, the construction of a "special vessel" is not very costly in relation to a conventional one (a cost-benefit analysis can probably indicate that the future benefits can compensate the additional cost), the fact that some millions of Euros have to be spend "just" for a testing, imposes a severe barrier, to the potential financiers of such initiatives. Therefore a discrepancy between the technical feasibility of the systems and the market demand is observed. Cost information is available only for a specific number of the systems under investigation. In order to cope with the lack of such data a "cost estimator" function is introduced to identify the order of magnitude of the cost that a new technology can achieve, by making analogies with the cost of similar civil engineering works and equipment from other transport areas (e.g. the cost of small railway locomotives, used for in-terminal wagon circulation, is used as an approximation for the cost of similar "pusher" devices).

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4. Multicriteria Decision Aid Under Investigation In order to facilitate the evaluation of the altemative innovative maritime systems, towards the selection criteria, the (previously mentioned) ExTip software was developed. By making the desired (or required) selections e.g. loading unit types: containers; compatibility with existing systems: yes; stage of implementation: pilot etc, the user excludes from further consideration the transhipment systems that do not satisfy the essential requirements. Then one can increase the options for the remaining systems by viewing the relevant technical information, expert opinions etc. Appropriate links in a form of hyperlinks or popup comments can guide the user during the investigation phase. It must be noted that the system guidance is not compulsory giving the users the flexibility to make their own selections. The PROMETHEE [Decision Lab (2000)] method is a multicriteria decision aid methods, based on a pair-wise comparison principle. An advantage of the PROMETHEE method is that it incorporates linear, step-wise and Gaussian criteria functions/thresholds that in many cases approximate satisfactory the decision making process. In addition it provides a consistent mathematical background for solving the formulated problem. Nevertheless, the PROMETHEE method requires from the (unfamiliar with multicriteria methods) user, considerable effort in order to understand the concept and quantify (or more accurately to select from the proposed range of values) the criteria functions. Therefore, the usefulness of the method (speaking for the specific transhipment system selection tool) is questionable. Since the introduction of these multicriteria "elements" in the software tool is at an infant stage, no feedback for their usefulness has been expressed yet. Such comments/reactions from transport experts and terminal operators are expected after an "official" demo of the system, which is scheduled at the end of 2004. In addition to the above procedure, the use of multicriteria decision support tools is currently investigated. Figure 2 shows a graph from GAIA, which visualizes a comparative representation of the above technologies. GAIA is a graphical representation of a decision problem that provides a global view of the conflicts between the criteria, of the characteristics of the actions and of the weighing of the criteria. Criteria are presented by axes. Both the orientation and the length of the axes are important. Actions are represented by shapes. The proximity between the shapes indicates actions with similar profiles. The weights of the criteria are represented by a separate axis, named the p; decision axis [Decision Lab (2000)]. The orientation of the criteria axes indicates which criteria are in agreement with each other. The positions of the actions indicate the strong and weak features of each action. The further an action is located in the direction of a criterion, the better it complies with

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the criterion. If it is located in the opposite direction it suggests that its performance on that criterion is below average. Figure 2 presents an example where a number of selected technologies are displayed in GAIA plane, in relation to 3 criteria (productivity, compatibility with ports and degree of automation). The process required the adaptation of the "productivity" values given in Tablel in a common scale (TEUs per hour), therefore the "Ro-Ro with 60 tons payload" of Storabox was interpreted as 60 TEUs/hour, the "Ro-Ro with 70 ton units" of Cassettes system was interpreted as 160 TEUs/hour, and the "Lo-Lo" characterisation of the LoLo with Trailer Cassettes system was interpreted as 60 TEUs/hour.

Figure 2: GAIA representation of selected criteria and innovative maritime transhipment technologies


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As it is shown in Figure 2, GAIA clustered technologies in an informative manner: the cluster of Storabox and Cassettes, located in the opposite direction of "automation" criterion, the cluster of ASC, OCTOPUS and CERES in compliance with "productivity", "automation" and "port compatibility" criteria, the CPT system in the high productivity but non-compatible with ports GAIA plane area etc. The orientation of the Pi decision axis identifies the kind of a compromise solution, that corresponds to the weights of the criteria (in the example, the same weight was set for all criteria). The A (Delta) value is the percentage of information retained in the GAIA plane and it measures the quality of the plane. In practice, A values larger than 70% correspond to reliable GAIA plane and ensure a higher quality of the graphical representation [Decision Lab (2000)]. In the example, the A value is 96%, which means that the quality of the display is quite high.

AGVs and ASCs --- Storabox ~.~ Cassettes Container Pallet Transfer (CPT) Train Loader "~ EuroExpress Lo-Lo with Trailer Cassettes OCTOPUS System CERES System

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Conclusions

The support of environmental friendly transport modes is currently a major priority for the E.U., and for this reason the development of new transhipment technologies is promoted. The aim of these technologies is not to radically reform the current face of the port handling, but rather to act in a complimentary way, offering solutions that can be cost effective under specific operating conditions. Although a significant number of transport systems have been implemented, only a few of them are currently in operation. In order to increase the understanding of the potential user of the various transhipment system functionalities, a multi-tier software tool is currently under development. This tool incorporates technical information, visual aids, expert opinions, success and failure cases, best practise from pilot implementations, queuing theory and simulation results. In addition, multicriteria decision aid is currently considered.

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The implementation of advanced decision support tools is anticipated to encourage the gradual penetration of new transhipment technologies in the transport market, by allowing the potential users to enhance their understanding of the innovative systems' performance, functionalities and "foreseen" cost (through the "cost estimator function") and perform expert (multicriteria) analysis among candidate systems functionality.

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Ioannou, P.A., Jula, H., Liu, C.-I., Vukadinovic, K., Pourmohammadi, H., and E., Dougherty, Jr. (2001). Final Report of the Programme: Advanced material handling: automated guided vehicles in Agile Ports, supported by the Centre for commercial deployment of transportation technologies (Task 1.2.6.1- FY 1998), Rev. January. European Commission/DG-TREN ITIP Project: Innovative Technologies for Intermodal transfer Points. Contract N~ 2000-AM.10005. European Commission, White Paper: European Transport Policy for 2010: time to decide, Chapter 11: Linking up the modes of transport, Part C: Creatingfavourable technical conditions. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, L-2985 Luxembourg, 2001, pp.47. http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy_transport/en/lb__en.html. European Commission/DG-TREN, TERMINET Project, Deliverable D2: NewGeneration Terminal and Terminal -Node Concepts in Europe, July 1997, pp. 8588. European Commission/DG-Transport,SIMETProject: Present Optimum Technologies, Doc Euret/409/95, Brussels, January 1995. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. (1990) The establishment of trans-shipment facilities in developing countries. Wijnolst, N., H.B. Van der Hoeven, Kleijwegt, C.J. and Sjbris, A. (1993). Innovation in short sea shipping: self-loading and -unloading unit load shipsystem. Delft (Delft University Press).