Abstract
As containerships continue to increase in size, liner networks have evolved into spoke network structures, with the integration of deep-sea main routes and regional feeder routes. Taking into account the practical context of the domestic piggyback (DP) policy in China, this paper addresses joint operations between two different providers of deep-sea main routes and regional (domestic) feeder routes, respectively. The resulting planning problem is denoted the liner feeder shipping network design problem (LFSNDP) with joint operations under the DP policy, which involves decisions about hub port location, feeder network design, and fleet deployment. We propose a mixed-integer programming (MIP) model for the LFSNDP. Furthermore, we extend this model to the LFSNDP-MAH (multiple allocation hub), which considers multi hub-allocation and cargo splitting. The two models can be solved using a commercial MIP-solver with a number of candidate main and feeder route combinations generated as input. Finally, we conduct experiments on instances based on a real case study to provide managerial insights. The results show that the LFSNDP model can solve the network design problem with cargo piggybacking, while we show that the LFSNDP-MAH, based on multi-allocation of hubs and cargo splitting, can reduce operation cost by rebalancing cargo flows.