Minimal cost optimization model for empty containers repositioning with transshipment policy

It is vital to minimize the total operation cost of liner company to meet the fierce market competition. In this paper, the transshipment strategy is proposed to solve the problem of empty containers repositioning (ECR) based on the multiple vessel routes. We build the ECR models with transshipment policy and compare them with these models which do not consider this policy at all. Further, from the view of involving the loading and discharging costs we study the effect of transshipment strategy on the objection function. Finally, an illustrative example is represented to verify the feasibility of our proposed model.