Solving the Continuous Berth Allocation and Specific Quay Crane Assignment Problems with Quay Crane Coverage Range

This work solves an integrated model of the continuous berth allocation and specific quay crane (QC) assignment problem with QC coverage range. Based on the analysis of vessel berth position and QC coverage range, a nonlinear mixed‐integer programming model is developed. A novel heuristic method based on spatiotemporal conflict analysis is applied to derive a high‐quality berth‐QCs plan. The initial pessimistic priorities of vessels are employed to reflect the preferences of vessels for terminal resources. The proposed cluster of vessels focuses on spatiotemporal conflicts among vessels. Coordinated assignments of resources for the clustered vessels are realized via the branch‐and‐bound method. The QC feasibility check identifies infeasibility of QCs‐to‐vessel assignment. Several experiments are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Numerical results demonstrate that high‐quality berth‐QCs plans can be obtained within an acceptable time. Further, the influence of coverage range of QC is discussed in detail.