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arXiv · 2509.19718

ALNS for Tugboat Scheduling in Inland Waterway

Zihang Ma
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Abstract

This paper focuses on the barges shipping problem, also known as the tugboats scheduling problem, within the context of a scenario where a single tugboat has the capacity to tow multiple barges and conduct multiple trips in a drop-and-pull mode during a daily work shift. The problem is mathematically formalized as mixed-integer programming models. To tackle real-world-sized problem instances, an adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS) algorithm integrated with a decoding mathematical model is proposed. When applied to large-scale instances, the ALNS algorithm showcases performance superiority over the strengthened mathematical model.

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Zihang Ma. 2025-09-24. ALNS for Tugboat Scheduling in Inland Waterway. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.19718

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