JEMS Maritime Sci. Ahead of Print: JEMS-15428

A Hybrid Harmony Search and Rule-Based Approach for Dynamic Crane Scheduling Problem

Hizia Amani, Linda Bouyaya, Rachid Chaib
Transport Engineering Department, LITE Laboratory, University of Constantine 01, Algeria

Service time of container ships has become a central indicator of port productivity. In operational contexts, this time is mainly influenced by the number of quay cranes and the way they are scheduled. This study proposes a novel hybrid approach combining Harmony Search Algorithm (HSA) and rule-based dynamic simulation to solve the Quay Crane Scheduling Problem (QCSP) under non-crossing constraints. The problem is addressed in two consecutive stages; the first aims to identify efficient initial crane positions using Harmony search, while the second simulates cranes movements dynamically, relying on a set of predefined rules that guide real time decisions. Additionally, three analytical features are defined to characterize the behavior of Harmony Search during the exploitation phase. Comparative experiments with heuristics and metaheuristics from the literature confirm the consistency and effectiveness of the proposed hybrid method across different scenarios.

Keywords: Maritime Logistics, Port Productivity, Harmony Search Algorithm, Dynamic Crane Scheduling

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