Circle packing algorithms for optimizing space usage in anchorages

Abstract

Number of Vessel Arrivals to Singapore is increasing fast; it can cause the Singapore anchorage system to be overloaded. As a result, there is need of new algorithms for allocating vessels more efficiently and this is the focus of this project. By using the software Singapore Anchorage System Simulator, we will try to model the real Singapore anchorage system. Based on this model, we will evaluate the utilizations, the running times and the acceptance rates of the newly designed algorithms for allocating vessels. Our experiments show that the algorithms with size priority and following the Wallpack rule perform very well; the algorithms without advance booking perform well at low levels of Vessel Arrivals when the algorithms with advance booking perform well at high levels of Vessel Arrivals. According to this result, we are able to design more efficient algorithms based on Wallpack rule with size priority.