Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. and its group company MOL Information Systems, Ltd. announced the success of a demonstration test of automated space management for car carriers (booking cargo allocation on operated vessels and accompanying voyage planning), using mathematical optimization, a technology both companies have been working on since 2019, according to the company's release.
The use of this newly developed algorithm allows simultaneous examination of about three times as many possible plans as the conventional process. This helps optimize voyage scheduling and benefits all parties involved.
Working closely with Professor Shunji Umetani of Osaka University, MOL has started operation of support systems, a "car carrier allocation plan" and "cargo loading plan". MOL will speed up overall decision-making in car carrier operations to offer the unprecedented attention to detail in transport service, more effectively addressing customer requests and accelerating its initiatives on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by realizing the use of mathematical optimization even in "space management of operated vessels," which bridges these two processes.