Effect of block width and storage yard layout on marine container terminal performance

Block widths ranging from two to fifteen rows in a marine container terminal are evaluated by a fully-integrated, discrete event simulation model. Experiments consider dozens of yard configurations and four container terminal settings that are designed to reproduce the microscopic, stochastic, real-time environment at a multiple-berth facility. Results show that the quay crane rate is concave with respect to block width when the yard storage capacity and amount of yard equipment is constant. The optimal block width ranges from 6 to 12 rows depending on the amount of equipment deployed and the size, shape, and throughput of the terminal.