Multiobjective Approaches for the Ship Stowage Planning Problem Considering Ship Stability and Container Rehandles

The ship stowage planning problem (SSPP) is a very complex and challenging problem in the logistics industries because it affects the benefits of both shipping lines and port terminals. In this paper, we investigate a multiobjective SSPP, which aims to optimize the ship stability and the number of rehandles simultaneously. We use metacentric height, list value, and trim value to measure the ship stability. Meanwhile, the number of rehandles is the sum of rehandles by yard cranes and quay cranes and all necessary rehandles at future ports. To solve this problem, a variant of the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm III (NSGA-III) combined with a local search component is proposed. The algorithm can produce a set of nondominated solutions. Decision makers can then choose the most promising solution for practical implementation based on their experience and preferences. Extensive experiments are carried out on two groups of instances. The computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm compared to the NSGA-II and random weighted genetic algorithms, especially when it is applied in solving the six-objective SSPP.