Berth scheduling by simulated annealing

The objective of the berth-scheduling problem is to determine the berthing times and positions of containerships in port container terminals. Every vessel requires a specific amount of space in a wharf for a predetermined length of time to unload and load containers. In this study, a mixed-integer-linear-programming (MIP) model was formulated for the berth-scheduling problem. The simulated annealing algorithm was applied to the berth-scheduling problem to find near-optimal solutions. Experimental results showed that the simulated annealing algorithm obtains solutions that are similar to the optimal solutions found by the MIP model.