Exact and heuristic algorithms for the fleet composition and periodic routing problem of offshore supply vessels with berth allocation decisions

Bruno S. Vieira, Glaydston M. Ribeiro, Laura Bahiense, Roberto Cruz, André B. Mendes, Gilbert Laporte

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

This paper presents a branch-and-cut algorithm and an adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS) heuristic for the periodic supply vessel planning problem (PSVPP) arising in the upstream offshore petroleum logistics chain. Platform supply vessels support the offshore oil and gas exploration and production activities by transporting all the necessary material and equipment back and forth between offshore units and an onshore supply base according to a delivery schedule. The PSVPP consists of solving a periodic vehicle routing problem and simultaneously determining an optimal fleet size and mix of heterogeneous offshore supply vessels, their weekly routes and schedules for servicing the offshore oil and gas installations, and the berth allocations at the supply base. The branch-and-cut algorithm considers a reduced formulation for the problem which performs much better than the complete one, and easily finds optimal solutions for the smaller and most of the clustered instances. The ALNS heuristic contains new features which include multiple starts and spaced local searches. These algorithms were tested on instances with up to 79 offshore units, providing better results than the best available.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)908-923
Number of pages16
JournalEuropean Journal of Operational Research
Volume295
Issue number3
Early online date24 Mar 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Aug 2021

Funding

This work was conducted during a scholarship supported by the International Cooperation Program CAPES/COFECUB at the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT), and financed by CAPES (grant 88881.186960/2018-01) - Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education within the Ministry of Education of Brazil. The support of the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (grant 2015-06189 ) is gratefully acknowledged. This work was partially supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - CNPq, under grants #309661/2019-6 and #307835/2017-0. Thanks are due to the editor and to the referees for their valuable comments.

Keywords

  • ALNS heuristic
  • B&C algorithm
  • Berth allocation
  • Heterogeneous fleet sizing
  • Offshore supply vessel planning
  • OR in maritime industry
  • Periodic VRP

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Computer Science
  • Modelling and Simulation
  • Management Science and Operations Research
  • Information Systems and Management

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