PLANNING FOR A TRANSSHIPMENT SYSTEM FOR COAL EXPORT USING DISCRETE EVENT SIMULATION

Transshipments operations are becoming increasingly common in shipping, since the biggest terminals are overcrowded with the current growing demand. A Brazilian company is planning to export 12 million tons of coal per year from Mozambique, on the African continent, through a transshipment operation, once the terminal is located in shallow waters. Thus, this study aims to size the system using discrete event simulation, analyzing the transport unit (TU) fleet, the average queue time of the ocean going vessels (OGV), the demurrage costs, as well as the different scenarios performances under several conditions such as tidal restrictions, adverse weather conditions (hurricanes) and equipment rates. Furthermore, most scenarios are viable, and the results are analyzed prioritizing the tradeoff between the demurrage costs and the equipment.