An Application of a Vessel Route Planning Model to Second the Import/Export of Seasonal Products

Abstract

The distribution of food products represents a great trade opportunity for maritime carriers and ship** companies, especially within the Mediterranean Basin which concentrates many important food processing and consuming countries. Fresh products, as fruit and vegetables, are characterized by seasonal and climate-driven volumes, and logistics networks and distribution (i.e. ship**) operations should be designed and planned in agreement with such trends. In this working paper, an application of the Vessel Routing Problem with Selective Pickups and Deliveries (VRPSPD) to the maritime import/export of food seasonal product is illustrated. The VRPSPD belongs to a well-known class of vehicle routing problems intended to plan the routes of the maritime distribution of commodities between sources and destinations. A time-dependent formulation of the VRPSPD is applied in this paper to maximize the profit of a maritime carrier involved in the import/export of fruits among Mediterranean ports. A simple numerical example is used to validate the model and to identify opportunities for future problem investigations in the seaborne trade of seasonal and perishable products.