A data-driven exact algorithm for the container relocation problem

The container relocation problem is one of important issues in seaport terminals which could bring a significant saving on the operating cost even with a slight improvement due to the huge number of containers processed across the world each year. Given a specific layout and container retrieval priorities, the container relocation problem aims to find the optimal movement sequence to minimize the total number of container relocation operations. In this paper, we propose a new upper bound method called MLUB that incorporates branch pruners. These pruners are derived from some machine learning techniques through using the optimal solution values of many small-scale instances. The tightened upper bounds generated by MLUB are used subsequently in the exact branchand-bound algorithm called IB&B. Moreover, we also provide a tighter lower bound for the problem by additionally considering the interaction between consecutive target containers. Based on the benchmark data published recently in the literature, extensive experiments are conducted to test the performance of the proposed algorithms.