Empty Container Repositioning in Liner Shipping

Container liner shipping faces the challenges of liner shipping and container transport. An imbalance in cargo in- and outflow in many ports creates the need for empty container repositioning. Empty containers, unlike loaded ones, have no specific origin/destination pair. Thus they add more flexibility to the planning problem for loaded containers. Characteristics in shipping, e.g. in handling and transhipment, form the background for the problem. The presentation outlines the characteristics of container liner shipping and introduces an industrial case together with solution approaches.