Experimental evaluation of mixed integer programming models for the multi-port master bay plan problem

This paper extends the problem of stowing a given set of different type containers in the available slots of a containership, i.e. the so-called master bay plan problem (MBPP), to the multi-port master bay plan problem (MP-MBPP). MP-MBPP considers the whole route of the ship and the different sets of containers which must be loaded at each port of the route for shipping to successive ports. The sequence of alternate unloading and loading operations is relevant for the effectiveness of stowage plans. This paper introduces two exact mixed integer programming (MIP) models for MP-MBPP, aimed to deal with practical and operative aspects of the problem. It also examines some computationally efficient relaxed formulations of the proposed MIP models and reports an extensive computational experimentation performed on real size instances. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed models and the related resolution methods.