Optimization of the Transportation of International Container Cargoes Considering Short Sea Shipping

근해운송을 고려한 국제컨테이너 화물운송의 최적화

This paper considers the problem of determining the cargo flow and the transportation mode in each trade route while satisfying the demand. Especially, the problem incorporates short sea shipping in Korea, which is becoming more important in order to improve efficiency of Logistics. The objective is to minimize the sum of shipping and inland transportation costs. To solve optimally the problem, this paper employs a linear programming model, which is an operations research technique for optimization. The problem is formulated by extending the well-known network design problem by considering capacity at seaport and limitation of total number of vehicles. The model is solved using CPLEX, a commercial linear program software. The test results using a real cargo flow data in Korea show that the model represents closely the real situation.