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On routing and scheduling a fleet of resource-constrained vessels to provide ongoing continuous patrol coverage

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Abstract

The objective of the Patrol Boat Scheduling Problem with Complete Coverage (PBSPCC) is to find a minimum size patrol boat fleet to provide continuous coverage at a set of maritime patrol regions, ensuring that there is at least one vessel on station in each patrol region at any given time. The requirement for continuous patrol coverage is complicated by the need for vessels to be replenished on a regular basis. This combinatorial optimization problem contains both routing and scheduling components and is known to be NP-hard. In this paper, we show how recent theoretical insights can be used in conjunction with specially tailored heuristics to accelerate a column generation solution approach over a resource-space-time network construct. We show how the column generation approach can be used within a branch-and-price framework and combined with various reduction techniques to find cyclic and long-term scheduling solutions on a range of test problems.

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Acknowledgements

Paul Chircop would like to acknowledge his co-authors for their expert supervision of his doctoral studies from 2010–2016 at the University of New South Wales. Paul Chircop and Timothy Surendonk wish to thank Dr Maria Athanassenas (Group Leader Maritime Mathematical Sciences, Joint and Operations Analysis Division) of the Defence Science and Technology Group for her generous encouragement and support. Toby Walsh was funded by the European Research Council under the Horizon 2020 Programme via AMPLify 670077.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Defence Science and Technology Group, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Paul A. Chircop & Timothy J. Surendonk

  2. HIVERY, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Menkes H. L. van den Briel

  3. University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Toby Walsh

  4. Data61 CSIRO, Canberra, Australia

    Toby Walsh

  5. Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Toby Walsh

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  1. Paul A. Chircop
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Correspondence to Paul A. Chircop.

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Chircop, P.A., Surendonk, T.J., van den Briel, M.H.L. et al. On routing and scheduling a fleet of resource-constrained vessels to provide ongoing continuous patrol coverage. Ann Oper Res 312, 723–760 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-021-04474-6

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