LAUSR

In recent years, the proportion of fuel costs in the total shipping costs grows up with the increase in international crude oil price. The rising cost seriously restricts the development of shipping enterprises. Many researches and cases show that reducing the ship’s fuel consumption by cautiously and reasonably decelerating the ship is the most simple and effective mean to control the shipping cost. However, the transportation time is longer when the speed is reduced. In other words, shipper would have to pay more for per unit transportation time. When the increase in transit time exceeds a certain range, liner companies are likely to lose customers. This article aims to maximize the profit of a liner company, which consisted of the variety of fuel cost, fixed cost, operating cost, and other related factors. And at the same time, the change in the shipper’s transport time cost and freight cost is considered. Then, a speed–freight optimization model based on the bat algorithm is established using MATLAB toolbox, in which the liner line is segmented. Finally, this article uses the model to optimize the route of the Far East to North America. The results show that the model can guarantee the quality of transport and reduce transport cost by adjusting speed at the same time.