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Since the first automated container terminal (ACT) was introduced at Europe Container Terminals Delta Terminal in Port Rotterdam back in the year 1992, a lot of research had been done to improve the management of ACT. However, up until recently, the number of literature available still appeared scarce. Hence, this paper aims to review the collection of literature about ACT to generate an exhaustive summary to answer the formulated review question in this study.

Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses to narrow down the search parameters of literature retrieved so that only relevant articles were only selected. The systematic literature reviews were applied to analyse the content of the articles retrieved to determine its journal ranking, research findings and timeline of publications.

The adoption of ACT technology by container terminal operators could increase the terminal efficiency in productivity, cost reduction and environmental sustainability. Owing to global environmental awareness, the research trend of container terminal field and container terminal operator in the terminal design is much more environmentally friendly oriented.

The limited numbers of experts in the management of ACT are causing challenges in data collections.

The analysis of the global ACT trend could help academicians and industrial investors to review the revolution timeline of maritime technology in port and shipping that is happening rapidly.

The analysis of timeline and collective literature leads to the propose of the conceptual framework to determine the relationship between increased productivity, cost reduction and environmentally sustainable.

Information technology has become an essential part of the rapid and accurate transfer and processing of enormous volumes of data processed in international transport firms and port organisations. The proper management of systems, which process this information and communicate it to those who manage port operations, is vital for efficient transport. This explains why container‐tracking systems are given high priority among operational computer applications in ports. Investigates the importance of information technology and its role in improving the operational systems in cargo handling. A computer simulation model is developed to compare two different operational systems – a container terminal equipped with electronic devices versus a terminal without such devices. The importance of information technology in supply‐chain management is also discussed.

There is significant amount of literature tackling different issues related to the port industry. The present chapter focuses on a single business unit of seaports aiming at the documentation of works related to container terminals.

An effort to review, collect and present the majority of the works present in the last 30 years, between 1980 and 2010, has been made in order to picture the problems dealt and methods used by the authors in the specific research field. To facilitate the reader, studies have been grouped under five categories of addressed problems (productivity and competitiveness, yard and equipment utilization, equipment scheduling, berth planning, loading/unloading) and four modelling methodologies (mathematics and operations research, management and economics, simulation, stochastic modelling).

The analysis shows that most works focus on productivity and competitiveness issues followed by yard and equipment utilisation and equipment scheduling. In reference to the methodologies used managerial and economic approaches lead, followed by mathematics and operations research.

In reference to future research, two fields have been identified where there is scope of significant contribution by the academic community: container terminal security and container terminal supply chain integration.

The present chapter provides the framework for researchers in the field of port container terminals to picture the so far works in this research area and enables the identification of gaps at both research question and methodology level for further research.

This paper aims to forecast inbound and outbound container throughput for Bangkok Port to 2041 and uses the results to inform the future planning and management of the port’s container terminal.

The data used cover a period of 16 years (192 months of observations). Data sources include the Bank of Thailand and the Energy Policy and Planning Office. Cause-and-effect forecasting is adopted for predicting future container throughput by using a vector error correction model (VECM).

Forecasting future container throughput in Bangkok Port will benefit port planning. Various economic factors affect the volume of both inbound and outbound containers through the port. Three cases (scenarios) of container terminal expansion are analyzed and assessed, on the basis of which an optimal scenario is identified.

The economic characteristics of Thailand differ from those of other countries/jurisdictions, such as the USA, the EU, Japan, China, Malaysia and Indonesia, and optimal terminal expansion scenarios may therefore differ from that identified in this study. In addition, six particular countries/jurisdictions are the dominant trading partners of Thailand, but these main trading partners may change in the future.

There are only two major projects that have forecast container throughput volumes for Bangkok Port. The first project, by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, applied both the trend of cargo volumes and the relationship of volumes with economic indices such as population and gross domestic product. The second project, by the Port Authority of Thailand, applied a moving average method to forecast the number of containers. Other authors have used time-series forecasting. Here, the authors apply a VECM to forecast the future container throughput of Bangkok Port.

Seaports are a signifier for the world economy and international trade. Notwithstanding the considerable role of Chinese ports in global trade, only few studies have explored the efficiency of Chinese container terminals. Furthermore, studies on Chinese port efficiency has typically centered on port-level analysis, not terminal level. Therefore, this study aims to examine the operation efficiency of Chinese container terminals.

This study uses super-efficiency data envelopment analysis (SE-DEA) approach. SE-DEA is superior than basic DEA model because it is feasible for categorizing and ranking the efficiency of container terminals more accurately and comprehensively. In the basic model, if the several decision-making units (DMUs) are efficient, the efficiency value of them is “1.” However, in the SE-DEA model, the most efficient DMU is over “1.” Based on the level of container throughput in 2018, the top 20 Chinese container terminal companies were selected. Various production quotas were selected as inputs, while the container throughput was considered output.

The findings show that Terminal Shanghai Mingdong Container Terminal Co., Ltd. was ranked 1, followed by Shanghai Shengdong International Container Terminal Co., Ltd., Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd. and Yidong Container Terminal Branch.

This study contributes to providing some insights into Chinese container terminal industry to augment the efficiency. This study also provides practical and policy implications (e.g. better terminal operations) for container terminals.

The purpose of this study is to reveal the magnitude of empty container movements (ECM) arising from cargo seasonality by means of long-term datasets of Turkish terminals. Trade imbalance is one of the well-known major reasons of ECM. Cargo seasonality apart from some other operational drivers and market effect, i.e. commercial decisions of the ship operators, is the major operational driver in Turkish terminals effecting ECM. Furthermore, this study highlights the significance of market effect, leading to take measures for more effective empty container operations in terms of decision makers leading the ship operators.

Time series analysis of full container datasets was performed through X-13ARIMA-SEATS methodology, implementing seasonal adjustment.

The results indicate that 17 of 112 time series in hand, based on a terminal/hinterland, container type and “in and out” foreign trade, exhibit cargo seasonality. Roughly, the amount of ECM originating from cargo seasonality in Turkish terminals represents 10 per cent of total ECM except trade imbalance in those terminals where seasonality is present. This reveals that ECM arising from market effect should not be underestimated.

Reefer container traffic could not be sorted from the datasets.

This paper focuses on one of the major reasons of ECM, cargo seasonality. It brings a novel point of view and interpretations which were not suggested previously about ECM, motivating to overcome inefficiency in container operations.

To achieve a high container handling efficiency at transshipment hub ports, there are a variety of scheduling problem as ship-to-berth assignment (BAP), container-to-yard arrangement (YAP), etc. As it is difficult to acquire the actual data of an existing terminal under various circumstances, this study aims to develop the time estimation model of container handling. Additionally, to achieve an efficient handling of containers at the yard, this study proposes the way to optimize the yard arrangement along with the berth allocation simultaneously by using estimated handling time.

To obtain the handling time based on various situations of the terminal operated, the discrete simulation model of container handling is constructed. The model to estimate the handling time of a quay crane assigned to a relevant ship by multiple regression analysis is developed. To find a feasible solution to minimize the total service time which includes YAP and BAP simultaneously, a genetic algorithm based on heuristics is developed.

The proposed regression model has high performance to estimate the time spent of container handling. In the total service time, the proposed approach outperformed the existing 2-step process approach.

As it is difficult to acquire the actual information of an existing marine terminal under various circumstances, the paper contains a regression model to estimate the container handling time based on simulation data, and the regression model is used in an optimization model to minimize the ship turnaround time.

Mid-stream operation has had a significant role in Hong Kong’s economic development since the 1960s. Prior to the building of container terminals in Hong Kong, cargo was mainly loaded onto and discharged from ocean-going vessels by mid-stream operations and then shipped to Europe and North America. This paper aims to reinforce mid-stream operation is considered a “must” in supporting the substantial growth of maritime industry and strengthening Hong Kong’s role as an entrepôt.

The authors undertake a historical review of the evolution of Hong Kong’s mid-stream operation over the past half-century and investigate the future of mid-stream operation in light of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s policy of allocating Public Cargo Working Areas through an open auction process. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews are also undertaken in this study.

The emergence of container terminals generated competition for cargo between container terminals and mid-stream operators. In addition, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s policy of allocating Public Cargo Working Areas to mid-stream operators through an open auction process intensified negative influences on the survival of the mid-stream operation sector.

To date, mid-stream operation has been abandoned nearly everywhere except in Hong Kong. Yet, Hong Kong’s container system has become the most advanced in the world. The authors explain how and why mid-stream operation still plays such a key role in Hong Kong and how to enhance its sustainability. The authors also discuss the academic and managerial implications of their findings.

The purpose of this study is to address an importance of an intermodal terminal regarding container drayage trips, which have a major concern for agricultural product exporters in the Upper Great Plains. Thus, this study aims to develop a geospatial model considering travel distance and total logistics costs for determining an alternative intermodal terminal location.

This paper develops a spatial model integrating integer linear programming to determine an intermodal facility location that minimizes total logistics costs. This research considers travel distance and total logistics costs including highway, rail and transshipment costs.

The results shows that a Dilworth, Minnesota, terminal reduces vehicle miles of travel on both the highways and rail networks and decreases system-wide total logistics costs compared to the do-nothing scenario while decreasing urban congestion costs in metropolitan areas.

The major contribution of the study is that it provides an integrated tool of spatial and economic analyses to support regional decision-making. The paper will be of interest to regional planners and to those in the private business sectors including farmers and manufacturers. The future study should address demand forecasting on the containerized freight in the region.

The novel approach of this paper is to use a link blocking constraint, considering the directions of the freight flow in a p-hub intermodal problem.