Queueing processes and trade-offs during ship-to-shore transfer of cargo

This article examines the ship-to-shore transfer of cargo from ships that are located offshore. In these situations, cargo is transferred from the ships to smaller craft, which in turn transport the cargo the remaining distance to shore. These craft cycle back and forth from the ship to the shore until the transfer is complete. Queueing of these craft often occurs, as they must wait at either the ship or the shore for a loading or unloading position to become free. Two different methods of modeling this ship-to-shore transfer of cargo are developed and applied. One is an analytic queueing model and the other is a more traditional simulation model. The analytic model is found to produce results quite similar to the simulation model. Examples are shown that use these models to analyze trade-offs between variables affecting the ship-to-shore transfer of cargo and the total time to transfer a given amount of cargo ashore.