Influence of navigation rules on traffic situation of one-way fairway with multi-junction based on simulation and improved DEA approach

Abstract

With the rapid development of global trade, the number of ships arriving at port has increased continuously. In some ports, fairway has been seriously congested, especially one-way fairway with multi-junction, which has become the bottleneck restricting the development of ports. Besides, ships are prone to conflict at junctions because of complicated traffic flow, which leads to the decrease of port operation efficiency and the increase of the safety risk. In order to overcome the challenge, this paper formulates an efficient and reasonable method to optimize port management, which can avoid huge reconstruction cost. Firstly, a simulation model is established to present the whole process of ships in port. In addition, an evaluation index system of traffic situation of one-way fairway with multi-junction is proposed and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) cross-efficiency evaluation approach is developed to analyze the influence of navigation rules on traffic situation of one-way fairway with multi-junction. Finally, a case study is introduced and the result shows that the best choice for the port area in case study is the ship comprehensive priority rule combined with speed limit 8 knots. The approach proposed by this paper can obtain the optimal ship navigation rule, which provides a foundation for port planning and ship management.