On the Unloading of Container Cargo in a Seaport and its Inspection for the Presence of Deleterious Invasive Species
RIT Economics Department Working Paper No. 12-04
14 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2012
Date Written: May 31, 2012
Abstract
We use a continuous-time Markov chain model to study the properties of a seaport container cargo unloading and inspection protocol. The purpose of cargo inspections is to detect and thereby eliminate the damage from stochastically arriving invasive species. Our analysis leads to five findings that can be used to, inter alia, optimize unloading and inspection activities. First, we determine the long run fraction of time that the unloading inspector is idle. Second, we compute the long run average number of ships from which cargo is unloaded per unit time. Third, we calculate the long run average number of ships that are waiting to have their cargo unloaded and inspected. Fourth, we ascertain the long run average waiting time per ship in our seaport. Finally, we use a simple numerical example to illustrate the computation of some of the above mentioned metrics.
Keywords: Container Cargo, Inspection, Invasive Species, Seaport, Uncertainty
JEL Classification: Q58, D81
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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