IRI - Multi-vessel placement in multi-chamber inland waterway transport locks using switching max-plus algebra

Publication

Multi-vessel placement in multi-chamber inland waterway transport locks using switching max-plus algebra

Journal Article (2026)

Journal

Ocean Engineering

Pages

123414

Volume

343

Number

Doc link

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2025.123414

File

Download the digital copy of the doc pdf document

Authors

Segovia Castillo, Pau
Ummels, Raphael
van den Boom, Ton
Reppa, Vasso

Abstract

This paper presents a novel scheduling approach for inland waterway transport (IWT) vessels that must pass through multi-chamber locks. A switching max-plus linear (SMPL) model is built to determine, for each vessel, the most appropriate route, the arrival times at relevant waypoints as well as at the destination, the relative order in which it moves through the network with respect to other vessels, its assignment to certain lock chambers together with other vessels, and its position inside each chamber. The SMPL constraints are translated to mixed integer linear programming (MILP) constraints for the optimization problem to be solvable, and objectives minimizing arrival times or arrival time offsets are defined. The proposed approach is tested on a multi-lock waterway, and its performance is compared to the current state of practice using relevant key performance indicators (KPIs), which allows to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed approach.

Author keywords

Inland waterborne transport; Intelligent transportation systems; Lock scheduling; Multi-chamber locks; Multi-vessel chambers; Max-plus algebra; Switching max-plus linear systems

Scientific reference

P. Segovia, R. Ummels, T. van den Boom and V. Reppa. Multi-vessel placement in multi-chamber inland waterway transport locks using switching max-plus algebra. Ocean Engineering, 343(5): 123414, 2026.