Liner shipping network design and scheduling problem

The liner shipping network design and scheduling problem (LSNDSP) is a mathematical optimization problem in operations research that models maritime transport logistic problems.^[1][2] It is of practical interest in the shipping industry, as improvements in mathematical technoques can be directly applied to real-world problems.

The problem consists of the simultaneous resolution of three sub-problems: fleet design, ship scheduling and cargo routing, while minimizing overall cost.^[3]

An industry-standard benchmark dataset, LINERLIB, is used to measure the effectiveness of mathematical approaches to the LSNDSP.^[4]

In 2024, resarchers from Google's Operations Research group announced that they had produced a new optimization technique which outperformed all previous solutions to the problem, and offered substantial increases in both profit and throughput for shipping companies.^[5]