Microsimulation models in a RO-RO high speed services intermodal container terminal: ordinary and perturbed conditions.

The significant development in recent years of container transport, in terms of technology and organization, has led to profound changes in international transportation. Ports appear to play an ever greater role, and the minimization of operation times in the maritime node is a fundamental factor for justifying the use of RO-RO High Speed Shipping Services for freight transport, as against the vessels currently used. The basic aim in RO-ROHigh Speed Services terminal management is to reduce ship waiting times from arrival to departure by minimizing loading/unloading times. This problem has already inspired many researchers to develop innovative loading/unloading systems in container terminals, for instance integration between road transport and RO-RO High Speed Services transport ships by using rail systems for loading/unloading operations. In the last few years discrete-event simulation models in the object-oriented approach have been proposed as decision support systems, with reference to maritime container terminals. The object-oriented approach has been particularly useful to describe logistic integration of the main system terminal modules (Land gate, Yard Container, Berth). Recently, a state-of-the-art container terminal was proposed by and, with a description and classification of the main logistic processes and operations in container terminals and some methods for their optimization. This paper proposes a method for simulating loading/unloading operations by using a rail system in a RO-RO High Speed Services intermodal container terminal by means of deterministic and stochastic models; the method consists in specifying the models represented by nodes, links and times for the single operations, so as to be able to control critical events, namely the possibility of breakdown or failure that affects ordinary operations in a intermodal container terminal. Every model is specified by definition of the variable and is described in terms of input and output. From the simulations of the models, instead, we derive the output, essential to assess system utility, expressed by loading/unloading operation times. Some interesting results emerge from the analysis of the outcome, in particular combining deterministic and stochastic times under different scenarios, even if they are still subject to revision and integration, for instance by modifying terminal structure and handling equipment. For the covering abstract see ITRD E135582.