A tabu search algorithm for weakly heterogeneous container loading problems

The paper presents a tabu search algorithm (TSA) for weakly heterogeneous container loading problems. The approach includes two integrated components: the generation of different stowage plans by means of a greedy algorithm and a tabu search using an appropriate representation of these plans. The TSA considers some restrictions of practical relevance. The overall algorithm has been applied to numerous benchmark problems and its performance is demonstrated by a numerical comparison with several loading procedures suggested by other authors.