Exploring information achieved from Automatic Information Systems to assess time of ships in port

The time of ships in ports affects not only the performance of the ships, but also the entire supply chain. It represents a competitive indicator for the challenges of international trade. This work highlights the possibility of using Automatic Information System (AIS) devices to evaluate the ship turnaround time. The paper moves from a review of the most used approaches and critical variables identified in the literature to assess terminal productivity and then evaluates the opportunity offered by AIS devices in analyzing the activities of ships in a container port. The procedure aims to highlight how simply operating over AIS raw data can assist analysts in capturing ship navigation status (anchoring and berthing operations) and analyzing the terminal traffic conditions. As a practical example, statistical information is resumed on the average berthing service time and occupation ratio for the Port of Melbourne; the traffic conditions and the berth occupancy ratio are investigated. The result was how the AIS data provide fundamental information on berth calls and their distribution over time, the average occupation time for handling operations, and the residual capacity to accept further incoming ships. Although such data can provide a snapshot of the port’s performance by providing information on spatial-temporal phenomena, AIS data cannot be considered fully explanatory of the activities within the terminal. Nevertheless, operating on these, it is possible to move a step forward to more traditional statistical analyses that do not directly consider spatial and temporal events within the terminal areas. The availability of historical records also allows analysts to test different scenarios through simulations. Similarly, having a rich database of real-time data can help analysts and port managers detect incoming events. For such reasons, further studies should focus on provisional models and the combined use of AIS data and other databases to provide information on terminal equipment and workloads.