2013 UKSim 15th International Conference on Computer Modelling and Simulation
3D Simulation analysis of Patras new port operations
in SIMIO platform environment
Mandalaki, Georgia
Manesis, Stamatis
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of Patras, Rio 26500, Greece
Patras, Greece
e-mail: ece6788@upnet.gr
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of Patras, Rio 26500, Greece
Patras, Greece
e-mail: stam.manesis@ece.upatras.gr
Abstract— In this article, a project concerning the threedimensional modelling of the new port of Patras city (Greece)
in SIMIO software platform will be presented. SǿȂǿȅ
software is a simulation prototype program with superior 3D
graphics, achieving true design of each simulated system, and
leading also to a real-time simulation mode through its modern
object-oriented technology. Based on the architectural designs
of the port made in AutoCAD environment, granted by the
competent authorities of the port, the exterior form of the new
port of Patras city has been designed in three-dimensional
formation. Also, a simulation model of the movement of ships,
vehicles and human activities has been developed.
Programming in SIMIO does not require any advanced
knowledge of a programming language but it is achieved
through creating flowcharts, mathematical functions,
empirical rules and defining the properties of each intelligent
object being imported. The purpose of the 3D simulation of the
new port of Patras is the possibility offered to search more
efficient operations, to study changes before implementing
them and generally to try various operation scenarios.
increasing and demands on the ability of container terminal
operations is also raised. A container terminal simulation
model implemented with Java and UML diagrams is
presented in [4]. On the other hand, the maritime
transportation in a general purpose ship and ferry port has
critical importance. Simulation and optimization of services
at Port in Indonesia has been described in [5]. In both cases
simulation provides the possibility of achieving the best
environment behavior.
Simulation models can be developed either by creating a
simulation algorithm written in any high-level language or
by using a ready-to-use software package. A ship traffic
modeling methodology with algorithmic-type steps has been
developed in [6] for a port in United States. The simulation
model in [5] uses the ProModel software. This work
belongs to the second category using the simulation
software tool SIMIO [7]. Using SIMIO, someone can
simulate all the activities that take place within a port [8].
The Patras port is the main ferry gate-port in Greece, which
links Italy and Greece. The growing number of heavy duty
trucks traveling between the two countries and the large
volume of tourists with simple cars or caravans have
effected to the increasing of system complexity. The
existing port users have to be accompanied by the reduction
of time services which caused reduction of waiting time and
vehicles queuing. This study uses simulation modules to
obtain a description of conditions of the Patras port at
various scenarios which are number of ships or ferries,
number of docks, passenger arrival rate, sea wave, and
intervals of ferry arrivals. The paper outlines finally the
usefulness of shipping and marine simulation in real
environment.
Keywords: Simulation; Port Operations; Ship traffic; SIMIO; 3D
Modelling
I.
INTRODUCTION
Ports can be viewed as complex systems containing
several entities with interfering attributes. Simulation
models have been used extensively in the planning and
analysis of port operations. The whole image is complicated
and special care should be considered to model such
systems. The use of resources, timing and service levels can
be simulated to get an overall view and be able to finally
decide on the choices and changes to be implemented [1].
One extremely important function, in shipping and marine
simulation, is the interaction among passengers, ships,
vehicles, technical and administrative personnel,
environment, management and weather [2].
The coastal activity is particularly intense with many
extensions. Simulation works are focused in two main
categories: the first is related to the optimization model of
export and transit containers storage as developed in [3],
while the second simulates the ship or ferry handling model
for transportation safety. With the development of
international trade, the container port throughput is
978-0-7695-4994-1/13 $26.00 © 2013 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/UKSim.2013.56
A. Discrete event simulation
Discrete event simulation (DES) is the process of
codifying the behaviour of a complex system as an ordered
sequence of well-defined events. In this context, an event
comprises a specific change in the system's state at a
specific point in time. Simulation is a powerful tool for
analyzing, designing, and operating complex systems. It
enables us to test hypotheses without having to carry them
out, saving both time and money. It is a cost-effective
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procedure of exploring new processes and checking the
operation of real systems helping users to produce better
results faster.
Simulation would be relevant in the context of a
shipping and marine system as maritime and port solutions
encompass harbour design, port authorities, and terminal
operators. Typical application areas are port operations,
designing of a new terminal, scheduling port activities and
generally harbour design as a whole. Modelling solutions
provide answers to key questions as:
x
What is the best layout for terminals with respect
to service, quality and cost?
x
What staffing levels are required to meet different
planned ship arrival/departure schedules?
dynamic development with remarkable advantages and
hence claims a leading position in Shipping and Marine
activity of south-eastern Europe [11]. The management of
Patras Port Organization (O.P.PA) with the contribution of
the staff and the full support and cooperation of the Central
Port Authority of Patras, shipping companies, and other port
services, as well as the assistant offered by the users of the
new port, reached the final stage of operation of a modern
port infrastructure that upgrades the port industry of Greece.
The additional security and sanitation structures, quality
services and facilities to the users and any other services
that characterize the modern major ports will make the third
in the range of importance national port of Greece very
competitive. The position of the port of Patras as nearest
major mainland ports to Western Europe as a supra-scale
urban centre and transport hub, favors its use by tourists
either as an entry – exit point, or as a crossing point. Today,
the port is the largest maritime terminal in western Greece
and the most important point ferry linking the country with
Italy. Nowadays, are in progress all the departures and
arrivals of ships of the line Patras-Italy, and in the future
will be added container ships and all the commercial port
services. An overall plan view of the new port of Patras city
is shown in Fig. 1.
B. SIMIO software platform
SIMIO is object oriented simulation software offering
the ability via intelligent object to model any system rapidly
without compromise. SIMIO was created by a team of
experienced simulation software developers, led by Dr.
Dennis Pedgen, former founder and Chief Executive Editor
of Systems Modeling Corporation. SIMIO is built on .NET
technology, has built-in integration with Google 3D
Warehouse, and was design to be both powerful for
advanced users and easy for beginners [7, 9].
SIMIO’s main properties are [10]:
x Lower total cost of ownership, delivering faster
results with less investment in time and money
x Integrated 3D technology, providing an immersive
visual experience
x True object-oriented designing
x Modern user interface, simplifying learning and
using task
For this project, SIMIO simulation was chosen for
above mentioned properties and also for the following
additional reasons:
Figure 1 - Overall plan of Patras new port
x Testing this simulation tool for having a three
dimensional display for each activity and operation
of the port, leads to its use in other applications.
x Ensuring new possibilities for introducing this new
simulation tool for educational purposes in our
department.
II.
III.
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION AND PROJECT STEPS
A. Harbor design
SIMIO provides a true object-based 3D modelling
environment which let user to construct his 3D model in a
single step from a top-down 2D view, and then to switch
instantly into a 3D view of the simulated system. He has
simply to drag and place the 3D objects from an Object
Library into his facility view of the model.
In this way, the exterior of the Patras harbor was
designed firstly in two-dimensional, as shown in Fig.2, based
on various architectural designs such as shown in Fig.1, and
thereafter in three-dimensional environment as shown in
Fig.3, in order to be loyal enough to the real system.
Particular emphasis was given to the design of the mooring
piers, the terminals and the routes to and from the port. The
placement of the objects in the configuration interface
implemented in four different ways:
OVERVIEW OF PATRAS PORT OPERATION
The new port of Patras opened its doors on July 2011
when the final interventions that began since 2010 were
completed in order to convert the new port into a functional
and safe one. The Southern Passenger Port of Patras has
jagged wharfs of 992 m total length. It consists of four dock
stations with 15 docks totally, 11 of which can be used for
mooring by poop. It is protected by breakwaters of 1.236 m
total length. In a highly competitive environment, the new
Port of Patras including modern infrastructures, presents
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limitation function is used in order to alleviate the ships
arrived – only four big ships or ferries could reach the port
simultaneously since there are four mooring piers berths as
in the real system. However, it should be noted that there is
the possibility of vertical mooring. In this case the maximum
number of ships that can reach the port simultaneously is
eleven. Afterwards, several functions were used to form
queues for boarding passengers and vehicles. Fig. 4 shows
the passenger boarding; each passenger or vehicle is queuing
up to be served and then they are driven to the ship for
departure. During the boarding of the ferries, the user can
stop the running procedure at any time using the buttons
located on the configuration interface. Furthermore, it must
be noted that for each passenger or vehicle entrance a
separate counter is updated continuously. Therefore, the user
can decide when boarding should be stopped or restarted in
order to study the current situation of the simulation,
according to the corresponding flow control diagrams similar
to that shown in Fig.5.
Since the capacity of ferries concerning passengers or
vehicles is limited, a special function was created for
monitoring purposes and displaying warning messages when
the limit is violated. Warning messages also appear when the
parking’s limits are expended too. Regarding the
disembarkation of vehicles, the last as intelligent objects
choose their destination randomly and particularly either
they leave the port area or they are directed to a car parking
place. Similarly, outgoing passengers choose their own
destination. This process of destination selection phase
Figure 2- 2D representation of the Patras harbor central section
Figure 3 – 3D representation of the harbor dock and building section
x
x
x
x
Inserting clip art from the computer
Using the standard library of SIMIO
Loading readymade objects from Google Warehouse
Designing of new objects
B. Creation of simulation model
For the creation of a simulation model, standard elements
available in SIMIO as source, server and sink were used,
connected by several paths.
Three main processes were identified:
x Boarding passengers - vehicles
x Disembarking passengers – vehicles
x Tickets checking
x Ferries docking process
Figure 4 - Passengers boarding process
Various current or random variables were studied and
introduced some of which are:
x Maximum capacity of ships
x Maximum capacity of parking spaces in the harbor
x Time passenger service
x Multiple ship arrival
For describing a realistic behavior of the operation of the
Patras port, some special functions were created. Initially, a
Figure 5 –Logic flow diagram - an example
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day. At this point, it should be noted that in this application
of simulation any scenario of routes contains up to four ships
can be implemented occasionally.
The modeling results are shown in the Results tab of the
corresponding software menu. When running the simulation,
the results are automatically updated. This means that it is
not necessary all specified functions of the simulation to be
completed in order to have an update result table (pivot
grid). Pivot grid is the updated status of all objects placed in
the configuration interface during runtime. Therefore, user
has access to the tab Results anytime he wishes, after either
stopping execution or causing pause. Fig. 7 shows a section
of the table which contains the results as they have been
derived from the simulation after a pause at a random time
point. In particular, it shows the parameters of Server 4
(vehicles ticket collector), as formed at the pause point. For
example, the “Input Buffer” tab recorded the number of
imported (9) and exported (17) items that express vehicles.
Also, one interest result is the “Starved Time” of a vehicle in
the above simulation that exceeds 30 min.
is implemented through the method of “nodes” as shown in
Fig. 6. Fig. 6a shows the possible paths that can be carried
by people and vehicles through various nodes installed,
while Fig. 6b shows the random selections of a car as it
arrives at node 1. Finally, there are randomly located people
who perform several activities in the harbor area as well as
vehicles which enter the port not only to travel.
(a)
(b)
Figure 6 – (a) Method of nodes (b) Dynamic node selection
C. Scenarios and Results
In this simulation two routes scenarios are implemented,
for which the mooring of ferries is performed horizontally.
In order the simulation to be efficient and reasonable,
operations that take place, for example loading - unloading
of ferries, are placed successively carried out sequentially, in
order to eliminate the time difference between them. In this
way, the completion time of the simulation is as reasonable
as possible.
In the simulation program, ships are presented as moving
objects that can be selected from the standard library of
SIMIO. The first scenario involves the loading of two ships,
operating on the route Patras - Italy. In the second one, takes
place the arrival of four ships. In this case, two of them run
the same route as in the first scenario, the third is landing,
while the fourth is tied at the port in order to leave the next
Figure 7 – Pivot grid of Results tabs – Server 4
Fig. 8 shows another section of the results table
concerning some of the paths followed by people, vehicles
or ferries. One of the most important information derived
from the simulation and shown in the table, is the “Time on
Link” feature of each object passing the path. Path No.11
presents the highest value of this parameter (2.5 min). On
the contrary, the lowest value of “Time on Link” (4.2 sec)
appeared in Path No.15.
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REFERENCES
[1] “Harbours & Railways – Optimization and Simulation”, ACT solutions,
Analytics
and
Control
Technology,
Technical
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www.actsolutions.eu, September 2012.
[2] Priadi Antoni, Arif, Tjahjono Tri, and Benabdelhalfid Abdellatif, “The
AHP FIS Handling Model for Determining Ferry Transportation
Safety”, Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland, Vols. 209-212, pp.
959-964, October 2012, doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.209211.959.
[3] Bing Wang, Tao Yang, “Multi-objective Optimization Model of
Export and Transit Containers Storage in a Transhipment port yard”,
Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland, Vols. 220-223, pp. 272-278,
November 2012, doi: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.220-223,272.
[4] Maurizio Bielli, Azedine Boulmakoul and Mohamed Rida, “Object
oriented model for container terminal distributed simulation”,
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2006.
[5] M. Dachyar, “Simulation and Optimization of Services at Port of
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pp. 25-32, July 2012.
[6] Dimitris Pachakis, Anne S. Kiremidjian, “Ship Traffic Modelling
Methodology for Ports”, Journal of waterway, port, coastal and ocean
engineering, Vol. 129, pp. 193-202, October 2003.
[7] W. David Kelton, Jeffrey S. Smith and David T. Sturrock. SIMIO and
Simulation: Modeling, Analysis, Applications, Mc Graw Hill, New
York, 2010.
[8] Said Ali Hassan, “Port activity simulation: an overview”, ACM
SIGSIM Simulation Digest, Vol. 23, pp.17-36, January 1993.
[9] Jeffrey A. Joines, Stephen D. Roberts. Simulation Modeling with
SIMIO: A Workbook, Raleigh, North Carolina, November 2010.
[10] SIMIO Simulation Software, http://www.SIMIO.com/index.html.
[11] Presentation – Patras Port Authority,
http://www.patrasport.gr/?section =1613&language=en_US
Figure 8 – Pivot grid of Results tabs – Paths
IV.
CONCLUSION
Via the developed simulation approach, it is possible to
achieve sufficient operations of Patras port and find the best
solutions for any schedule as well as reducing customers
(passengers and vehicles for departure) waiting time. For
ferries and ships also, the vertical mooring of them can be
tested in order to determine the best traffic schedule. These
first results seem to be a good motivation for a further
development of the model.
The next development step of this project is going to
include the simulation of the future containers station being
to be constructed, leading to an entire detailed model of the
Patras port.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This project is part of research cooperation between
University of Patras (www.ece.upatras.gr) and Patras Port
Authority (www.patrasport.gr). We greatly thanked to
O.P.PA for its contribution to the implementation of the
simulation of the new port of Patras, providing all the data
necessary for the best possible and most faithful
representation of it.
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