The threat of under-utilisation
Berth scheduling is a real problem only when there is high berth utilisation, according to one global port operator.
"With current trade and cargo flow plummeting, most ports are suddenly finding themselves under-utilised and having excess capacity," says a spokesman. "So in today's situation, ports will have fewer problems with berth scheduling."
Most ports build in a grace period of plus/minus two or perhaps four hours to take into account the vagaries of shipping, says the operator."If a ship arrives out of schedule, it may be relegated to the back of the queue, depending on the service contract it has with the terminal operator. It is perhaps for this reason that some shipping lines prefer to invest in their dedicated berths or terminals - in this case, the lines will get top priority whenever their ships call."
Software is helpful to automate the process of berth scheduling by checking the key parameters such as whether ship is on schedule, length of vessel and draft of vessel against water depth alongside.
"But a manager will always have to review the output of the software to then factor in importance of customer, any special requests, etc."
