Conclusion [chapter]

2018 Metaheuristics for Maritime Operations  
Conclusion Metaheuristic methods have been successfully applied to solve real-world optimization problems in a wide variety of application areas (e.g. cryptography, manufacturing scheduling, molecular modeling, inventory allocation, project scheduling, real options valuation). Maritime operations are not an exception. This book presented and examined several metaheuristic applications in maritime operations related to ship routing, berth allocation, quay crane assignment and scheduling, storage
more » ... space allocation, yard crane scheduling, and vehicle scheduling. Maritime operation problems have also been approached by some traditional optimization methods, such as branch-and-bound and dynamic programming. These methods are capable of obtaining optimal solutions and guaranteeing their optimality. However, maritime operation problems have a complex problem structure and are combinatorial in nature. Furthermore, real-world applications involve large-sized instances; which together with the aforementioned issues cause traditional optimization methods to fail to deliver an optimal solution in a reasonable amount of time; sometimes even a feasible one. Nevertheless, for a widely accepted and basic version of the problems discussed, we also present a mathematical programming model. Another advantage of using metaheuristics is that they are not problem specific, and they can be easily adapted to incorporate additional problem features, whenever required. In addition, nowadays many real-world applications involve multiple objectives. Metaheuristics are particularly interesting to address this type of problem as they work with a set of solutions, rather than just one. Furthermore, operational problems need to be solved quickly, sometimes online, and thus, we do have the luxury of
doi:10.1002/9781119483151.oth1 fatcat:luvzemjo2vherj24uxmmggs3ni