Sensitivity analysis of the performances of seaport container terminals

In the last decades, the continuous growth of the containerized freight transportation has led to a fast development of container terminals, that, as a consequence, need keeping the handling equipment efficient and technologically advanced. In this framework, the investments for enhancing the handling throughput, and for reducing the management costs, have to be carefully planned. The present paper provides a model for decision support in finding the best kinds, and numbers, of resources via of a global sensitivity analysis approach. In particular, the proposed methodology points out those elements of the handling system whose performance variabilities influence the global performance of the seaport terminal the most.