Abstract
More than 80% of the material movements, except raw materials, between Japan and its trade countries are conducted today in the containerized mode.
In recent years, the transportation sector has been undergoing very rapid and multifarious changes due to the alliances between shipping companies, introduction of larger ships as a cost reduction measure and the application of integrated logistics to satisfy the needs of customers.
However, many shipping companies tend to avoid calling a port in Japan due to the inadequate terminal facilities and other services, insufficient channel depth, inefficient handling and the high cost of port fees and dues.
In this paper, an evaluation of the container handling efficiency of terminals is made and a functional assessment of some terminal facilities is conducted. A Petri net model of the container terminal operations is constructed for numerical simulations. Also, a practical simulation is attempted through field measurements conducted on the operational performance of some handling devices being used in a modern container terminal.
