Container Ship Stowage Based on Monte Carlo Tree Search

ABSTRACT Zhao, N.; Guo, Y.; Xiang, T.; Xia, M.; Shen, Y., and Mi, C., 2018. Container ship stowage based on monte carlo tree search. In: Liu, Z.L. and Mi, C. (eds.), Advances in Sustainable Port and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 83, pp. 540–547. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. With the development of larger ships, modernized wharves, standardized production, meticulous management, and flexible service in container transportation, port production management is becoming increasingly intelligent. How to improve the efficiency when making stowage plans, the core issue in container terminals, has become a popular topic in research. Starting with the stowage issue, this paper provides rational solutions to stowage location and loading sequence of unloaded containers on the yard, giving overall consideration on ship owners’ requirement and dock authority's practical operation. Considering turnover on yard, RTG cross-container operation and RTG shifting, based on loading principles and constraints, this paper establishes an optimized model for multiple targets and creates an MCTS method, where five procedures including extension and option, together with corresponding strategies, are designed according to the search tree. Practical numerical examples indicate that the suggested model and algorithm can produce effective solution in due time. This is the first time that MCTS is applied for loading issues in container terminals, so this paper does not only use and perfect theories on optimizing, system analysis and decision, but also contribute to the intelligentization of container terminals. Relevant methods and thinking are referential and applicable to the study of issues of the same kind.