The mathematics of moving containers

At any port in the world, as soon as a ship reaches the pier, cranes start moving into action. But Maersk Line’s statistics told us that even though a group of cranes start working at the same time, some finish later than others. Mathematics whizz Ole Tang helped Maersk Line synchronise the cranes used in loading and unloading vessels – and saved time and money for our customers.

Solving the crane split challenge
Ole Tang, a mathematics specialist at Ange Optimization, was studying a set of Maersk Line statistics when he made a surprising discovery: the cranes used to load and unload vessels weren’t working cooperating very well. Ideally, five cranes working simultaneously should all finish their work at the same time. But the statistics showed this wasn’t happening at all. Some cranes finished their work hours later than others, delaying the whole process.

Using computers and sophisticated mathematical formulas to process the facts and assumptions that govern crane synchronisation, Mr Tang and his company found a way to so the crane split challenge and get the cranes to work in sync.

Centralised stowage planning
Mr Tang’s crane split solution has cut Maersk Line loading and unloading times dramatically, meaning better service for our customers. To continue making improvements, we’re now in the process of centralising stowage planning for around 40,000 port calls per year at a single vessel-planning centre. Located in Singapore, the new centre will be called Global Stowage Production (GSP).

Mining statistics for keys to improvement
With the crane split challenge solved, Mr Tang and Ange Optimization are now looking at ways to optimise other aspects of Maersk Line’s operations. "Now it’s time to move on to the next opportunity to improve services for Maersk Line customers,” says Mr Tang. “At the moment, we’re looking at the vessel’s ideal trim in the water, and of course we’re studying a lot of smaller issues as well.” The key to all these improvements? Applying advanced mathematics to statistical data.

Find out more about Maersk Line’s services, including our shipping and container services by visiting the » Services section of our website.