Establishment of MoS in Chile: Pertinence Assessment Through an Analysis of Previous Scenarios

Abstract

With the opening of the Panama Canal, Chile is adapting its transport logistics to the expected arrival of larger container vessels by assuming the establishment of a hub port in its central region. This paper tackles the feasibility of the intermodal chains through MoS to feed the North and the South regions from this central hub port. Due to the features of Chile, the intermodal distances are similar to the unimodal distances. This fact along with the remarkable imbalance of the cargo flows between the North and the South are an additional challenge for the success of the intermodality. In order to support the opportunities of success of the intermodality this study defines, through the optimization of a mathematical model, the most adequate fleets for MoS in the North and South of Chile. Likewise, assuming identical conditions for all Chilean ports (previous scenarios), the resolution of the model identifies the most suitable peripheral ports to articulate MoS from a large-scale hub port in the central region of Chile. The results show that, the intermodality is a competitive solution in the north, but it is not in the south when optimized fleets are used.

Appendix

Subscripts:  

$BB=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,b\right\}$:

Decisions on the installation of bow thrusters in vessels: without and with bow thrusters

$DD=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,d\right\}$:

Destinations in land (nodes) for the transport network: Iquique, Antofagasta and La Serena in the north; Concepción and Temuco in the south

$EE=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,e\right\}$:

Group of types of main engines: diesel engine and turbines $GG=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,g\right\}$ Alternatives for cargo-handling systems: crane vessels and port cranes

$H=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,h\right\}$:

Possible kind of propeller: conventional skew or waterjet

$I=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,i\right\}$:

Number of main engines (from 1 to 4)

$J=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,j\right\}$:

Direction of transport (north–south and south–north)

$K=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,k\right\}$:

Peripheral ports: Arica, Iquique, Mejillones and Antofagasta in the north; San Vicente and Coronel in the south

$M=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,m\right\}$:

Large-scale hub ports: Valparaiso and San Antonio

$N=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,n\right\}$:

Number of shaft lines in the machine room (from 1 to 4)

$PP=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,p\right\}$:

Kinds of cargo units for container vessels: TEUs and FEUs $Q=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,q\right\}$ Group of possible ages for the fleet: 1, 6 and 14 years

$U=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,u\right\}$:

Group of evaluated pollutants: $SO_{2}$, $NO_{x}$, $PM_{2.5}$ and $CO_{2}$

$Z=\left\{ 1,\ldots ,z\right\}$:

Land origins (central nodes) for the transport network: Santiago, Valparaíso, hub port (Valparaiso or San Antonio), La Serena and Rancagua

Superscripts:  

$MTA=\left\{ a,b\right\}$:

Modal alternatives for the transport: road haulage and intermodality, respectively.

$ST=\left\{ c\right\}$:

The MoS evaluated: MoS North and MoS South.

$DIS=\left\{ d\right\}$:

Obligatory to have two drivers in the truck (No; Yes)

Variables:

 

$CK_{dp}$:

Unitary costs for road haulage with one driver (TEUs and FEUs: $CK11=0.27/km$, $CK12=0.44/km$) and with two drivers (TEUs and FEUs: $CK21=0.32 /km$, $CK22=0.53 /km$)

$DM_{mk}$:

Maritime distance of the route (km): $\forall m\in M\bigwedge \forall k\in K$

$DRa_{zd}$:

Land distance for the unimodal alternative (km): $\forall z\in Z\bigwedge \forall d\in DD$

$DRb_{zm}$:

Distances of the capillary hauls for the intermodal chains from/to peripheral ports (km): $\forall z\in Z\bigwedge \forall m\in M$

$DRb_{kd}$:

Distances of the capillary hauls for the intermodal chains from/to large-scale hub ports (km): $\forall k\in K\bigwedge \forall d\in DD$

$E_{q}$:

Age of the vessel from time of building: $\forall q\in Q$

$G_{p}$:

Cargo capacity of the vessel in units: $\forall p\in PP$

$MG_{g}$:

Cargo-handling systems: $\forall g\in GG$

$MM_{b}$:

Manoeuvring means for the vessels (bow thruster): $\forall b\in BB$

$N_{trips}$:

Yearly number of trips for the fleet

$NME_{i}$:

Number of main engines of the vessel: $\forall i\in I$

$NMG_{k}$:

Maximum number of cranes for the peripheral port: $\forall k\in K$

$NMG_{m}$:

Maximum number of cranes for the large-scale hub port: $\forall m\in M$

$NSL_{n}$:

Number of shaft lines in a vessel: $\forall n\in N$

$P_{p}$:

Weigh of the cargo units (t): $\forall p\in PP$

$TME_{e}$:

Type of main engine for the vessels: $\forall e\in EE$

$TP_{h}$:

Type of propulsion for the vessels: $\forall h\in H$

VB:

Speed of the vessel (Kn)

$X_{d}$:

Relative probability of cargo delivery in a node with respect to the other possible nodes in the north and in the south (%): $\forall d\in DD$

$Xc_{jz}$:

Relative probability of cargo delivery in a node with respect to the other possible nodes in the centre for every MoS and in each direction (%):$\forall z\in Z\bigwedge \forall c\in ST\bigwedge \forall j\in J$