Maritime Cargo Prioritisation during a Prolonged Pandemic Lockdown Using an Integrated TOPSIS-Knapsack Technique: A Case Study on Small Island Developing States—The Rodrigues Island

Many remote areas, such as island states, are highly dependent on the transportation of cargo, and any disruptions similar to the 2020 pandemic lockdowns can negatively affect their respective supply chains. These disruptions could lead to a severe humanitarian crisis. It is therefore imperative to...

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Main Authors: Christos A. Kontovas, Krishna Sooprayen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
Series:Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7992
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spelling doaj-d79346898c7e4821881e47b2d8f4ffe02020-11-25T02:48:39ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502020-09-01127992799210.3390/su12197992Maritime Cargo Prioritisation during a Prolonged Pandemic Lockdown Using an Integrated TOPSIS-Knapsack Technique: A Case Study on Small Island Developing States—The Rodrigues IslandChristos A. Kontovas0Krishna Sooprayen1Liverpool Logistics, Offshore and Marine Research Institute (LOOM) and Maritime and Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UKSchool of Engineering Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UKMany remote areas, such as island states, are highly dependent on the transportation of cargo, and any disruptions similar to the 2020 pandemic lockdowns can negatively affect their respective supply chains. These disruptions could lead to a severe humanitarian crisis. It is therefore imperative to develop a cargo prioritisation process to ensure that essential commodities are transported. We propose a decision-aid tool that integrates two methods: (a) the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and (b) the knapsack problem. Containers are prioritised based on attributes such as their importance and their economic value. TOPSIS is used to calculate a score for each container and the knapsack problem determines the containers to be imported respecting the transportation capacity constraints. The practical applicability of the model is demonstrated by a case study on a Small Island Developing State. The proposed decision-aid tool could also be extended to be used in disaster relief situations.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7992import prioritisationmaritime transportationTOPSIS-knapsack methodologySIDS
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Christos A. Kontovas
Krishna Sooprayen
spellingShingle Christos A. Kontovas
Krishna Sooprayen
Maritime Cargo Prioritisation during a Prolonged Pandemic Lockdown Using an Integrated TOPSIS-Knapsack Technique: A Case Study on Small Island Developing States—The Rodrigues Island
Sustainability
import prioritisation
maritime transportation
TOPSIS-knapsack methodology
SIDS
author_facet Christos A. Kontovas
Krishna Sooprayen
author_sort Christos A. Kontovas
title Maritime Cargo Prioritisation during a Prolonged Pandemic Lockdown Using an Integrated TOPSIS-Knapsack Technique: A Case Study on Small Island Developing States—The Rodrigues Island
title_short Maritime Cargo Prioritisation during a Prolonged Pandemic Lockdown Using an Integrated TOPSIS-Knapsack Technique: A Case Study on Small Island Developing States—The Rodrigues Island
title_full Maritime Cargo Prioritisation during a Prolonged Pandemic Lockdown Using an Integrated TOPSIS-Knapsack Technique: A Case Study on Small Island Developing States—The Rodrigues Island
title_fullStr Maritime Cargo Prioritisation during a Prolonged Pandemic Lockdown Using an Integrated TOPSIS-Knapsack Technique: A Case Study on Small Island Developing States—The Rodrigues Island
title_full_unstemmed Maritime Cargo Prioritisation during a Prolonged Pandemic Lockdown Using an Integrated TOPSIS-Knapsack Technique: A Case Study on Small Island Developing States—The Rodrigues Island
title_sort maritime cargo prioritisation during a prolonged pandemic lockdown using an integrated topsis-knapsack technique: a case study on small island developing states—the rodrigues island
publisher MDPI AG
series Sustainability
issn 2071-1050
publishDate 2020-09-01
description Many remote areas, such as island states, are highly dependent on the transportation of cargo, and any disruptions similar to the 2020 pandemic lockdowns can negatively affect their respective supply chains. These disruptions could lead to a severe humanitarian crisis. It is therefore imperative to develop a cargo prioritisation process to ensure that essential commodities are transported. We propose a decision-aid tool that integrates two methods: (a) the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and (b) the knapsack problem. Containers are prioritised based on attributes such as their importance and their economic value. TOPSIS is used to calculate a score for each container and the knapsack problem determines the containers to be imported respecting the transportation capacity constraints. The practical applicability of the model is demonstrated by a case study on a Small Island Developing State. The proposed decision-aid tool could also be extended to be used in disaster relief situations.
topic import prioritisation
maritime transportation
TOPSIS-knapsack methodology
SIDS
url https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7992
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