Particle swarm optimization algorithm with time buffer insertion for robust berth scheduling

Abstract This paper investigates the robust berth allocation problem in container terminals. To handle the uncertainties in vessel arrivals, the problem is formulated as a scenario-based two-stage stochastic programming model. Furthermore, we introduce the time buffers to the model. We then develop an algorithm for time buffer insertion, which accommodates the adaptive search procedure for the time buffer into the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. Different from the traditional PSO algorithm, a core operator is designed with a modified version to take the intelligent time buffer insertion approach. The results of the numerical experiments show that the proposed method consistently provides an improved performance in terms of solution quality, compared with the previous studies and the one with a traditional operator in the PSO algorithm.