Confirmation of Candidature - Automating Australia's Container Parking System to Expand Terminal Capacity

Container terminals are essential hubs that enable the smooth movement of goods between sea, road, and rail transportation. These terminals, which function as intermediate hubs, are temporary locations for import and export containers that arrive by ship from the Sea or by land using road or rail. When these containers arrive at the container terminal, they are loaded and unloaded using a variety of cranes. After this, these are moved to container yards for temporary storage until they can be transported to their final destinations. Efficient retrieval from the yard based on timing and destination is critical since each container has a specific destination.  However, retrieval is complicated by the random arrangement of containers when they are first brought into the yard due to the very limited yard area in Container Terminals. While yard cranes are working to retrieve containers, this inefficient container yard management could cause delays and potential traffic congestion for vehicles on the roadways and impact vessel berthing and freight train delays. Overall container storage capacity at the Container Terminal Yard is vital to the Terminal, affecting operational effectiveness. This research endeavours to address these challenges through the following objectives: a) Identify innovative methods to optimise yard space within Australian container terminals by vertically stacking containers to maximise storage capacity within existing land constraints. b) Explore modern techniques for the efficient retrieval and stacking of containers from yard stacks in Australian container terminals, focusing on automating the container parking system. The research aims to improve yard area use and expedite container handling procedures in Australian container terminals by using computer simulations and mathematical modelling. This research aims to increase the operational efficiency of Australian container terminals and, consequently, the overall efficiency of container terminal operations in Australia by optimising the use of yard space and increasing handling efficiency.

For more information, please email the Graduate Research School or phone 0746 311088.