Priority berthing for congested ports: Rationale and a model

Adverse effects on a national economy of port congestion are identified. The rationale underlying a system of priority berthing for awaiting vessels is described and contrasted with the operational system of first-come, first-served. A system of priority berthing is capable of minimizing the generalized social cost of congestion and this is structured mathematically as a multi-attribute, decision-making problem. A worked example is outlined and a computer program described.