Ship Scheduling in the Tramp Spot Market Based on Shipper's Choice Behavior and the Spatial and Temporal Shipping Demand

In the tramp spot shipping market, the choice of a shipper and the spatial and temporal shipping demand affect decisions regarding task choices and ship routing of the carrier. From the perspective of a carrier, this article divides the entire shipping planning horizon into a series of time windows and converts the carriers' market shares into shippers' choice inertia. Based on the spatial and temporal shipping demand, the obtained market shares in different time windows are analyzed, and the ship scheduling schemes, including the amount of shipped cargos, the sailing routes and the ships used, are determined with the objective of maximizing the carrier's profits. Finally, a numerical test is conducted using the Pacific tramp shipping market as an example.