LINCOST
LINCOST was developed to model liner services from short sea ferry to deep-sea container. Analysing these services is more complex than analysing bulk carrier trades: liner services pass through many ports picking up and dropping off cargo en route, while bulk trades are usually confined to origin/destination trades. The ability to model this complexity can be very useful.
Inputs
There are five sets of inputs to the model:
Factor costs give all the costs of operating the vessels. Some powerful algorithms are used to link variables such as engine capacity and speed. It is also possible to use current charter rates in place of these factor costs.
Route characteristics define the origin/destination matrix for the cargo and ports on the routes. Non-vessel costs - such as port charges - are also included.
Control data sets up the parameters of the service such as the number of port calls per rotation, load factors, speed of cargo handling, maximum service frequencies etc.
Actual service structures derived from the MDST Containership Databank which can form the 'real world' basis for comparative exercises.
Origin and destination data for trade along a given route, derived for base and forecast years from MDST's World Cargo Database
Method
Liner services are treated as systems, with the ports being nodes in a continuous rotation. Using the inputs above, the program calculates all the feasible combinations of vessel frequency, capacity, speed, etc. consistent with all the constraints imposed by the control data set and then costs out every feasible option. The model will also optimise the 'best' solution if required or relate a given combination to actual liner operator practice.
Outputs
These include cost per unit of cargo moved, optimum vessel size, speed and other operational parameters for any combination of demand and, most important, different transhipment and port call options.
Uses
LINCOST has been used successfully on numerous projects, especially in Asia and the Americas. It is particularly powerful in assisting ports in understanding shipping line behaviour and in showing the cost-effectiveness of adding or dropping ports in an itinerary. Another common use is in quantifying the number of units required for a direct call by a mainline vessel, rather than by a feeder. It has been employed by MDST for the DfT in assessing the opportunities for transhipment in Britain and value that it adds to the UK economy.