An approach to port network capacity

Abstract

Port capacity from a traffic perspective has yet to be defined, but its measurement should allow the assessment of port infrastructures and the identification of their main constraints or bottlenecks. In this paper, we will present a review of link and network capacity definitions for different domains and new definitions for ports are formulated. A brief review of capacity calculation methods is presented. A computational approach for capacity calculation is presented. The process of a vessel in a port is described in order to identify the model scope, the required parameters and the assumptions for building the simulation tool. With this model different scenarios are generated in order to identify the influence and relevance of different parameters for the port network capacity.