An Integer Programming Model for the Liner-Shipping Network Design Problem

This thesis looks into the paper of Brouer et al. (2013). The liner shipping network design problem (LSNDP) looks at the flow of containers over a complex network of ports in order to minimize the costs and maximize the revenue. Optimization in this field can yield large advantages in the competitive market of today. This paper will reproduce the base mixed integer programming model for the LSNDP that is discussed in Brouer et al. (2013). In addition to this, we will look at the running time to solve various instances. The problem is strongly NP hard, which has the result that large instances will be very difficult to solve. In order to be able to solve more instances, efficient ways to decrease the number of rotations that is used in the model is discussed. The data that are used have been taken from Brouer et al. (2013).