Simulation of a Proactive Planning Strategy at a Tank Storage Terminal: A Case Study at Vopak Terminal Amsterdam Westpoort

The growing pressure on tank storage terminals is pushing the terminals to find ways to accommodate more vessels by increasing the efficiency of the vessel handling process. This research looks at the possibility of implementing forward planning at such a terminal by simulating multiple strategies and testing the impact on the seaside performance of the terminal. The current process is a reactive one due to the first come first serve rule that is enforced. This causes an unpredictable arrival distribution of vessels and a low level of information and collaboration. The simulation results are promising and show that a proactive planning strategy could drastically increase terminal seaside performance by allowing the terminal to control vessel arrival distributions and preventing certain interrupts that often occur within the process. In the best case, the terminal seaside performance increased from the current state performance of 55% to 92%