As container ships become larger with the expansion of trade volume, the importance of efficient container handling at container terminals (CTs) is increasing. One way to improve the efficiency of container handling is to reduce the number of relocations that occur at container yards (CYs). Terminal operators need to relocate containers because containers are stacked in multiple tiers, although the work is often considered unproductive. This study considers the container relocation problem to minimize the total number of containers relocated and the total move distance caused by container relocations. Also, we develop a model that simulates a real-world CY operation, and clarify the degree of improvement in the number of containers relocated and the container move distance.
