Liquefied natural gas maritime inventory routing problem considering changes of boil off rate

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Journal of Dalian Maritime University ›› 2026, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (1) : 31-39.

JI Xuejun, WANG Xiang, YANG Hualong*

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Abstract

This paper studied the liquefied natural gas maritime inventory routing problem (LNG-MIRP) with the mode of shipping logistics company managed inventory. Based on the relationship between LNG boil off rate, temperature difference inside and outside the cabin, and cargo volume, the LNG boil off functions for each voyage and port loading/unloading process were established. An LNGMIRP nonlinear stochastic programming model was constructed by considering changes of LNG boil off rate with the objective of minimizing the total cost of maritime logistics companies. Then, the model was transformed into a mixed integer linear programming model by employing the two model transformation methods of chance constraint and piecewise linear secant approximation. Taking the LNG project from Yamal to China as an example, the proposed model and its algorithm were validated and analyzed. The results show that considering changes of boil off rate within LNGMIRP can significantly reduce ship fuel costs and LNG boil off losses, thereby saving the total logistics costs. Sensitivity analysis indicates that an increase in LNG prices will lead to an increase in total logistics costs. The research conclusions can provide useful references for LNGMIRP decisionmaking of maritime logistics companies.

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liquefied natural gas（LNG） / maritime inventory routing problem（MIRP） / nonlinear stochastic programming model / boil off rate / model transformation

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JI Xuejun, WANG Xiang, YANG Hualong. Liquefied natural gas maritime inventory routing problem considering changes of boil off rate[J]. Journal of Dalian Maritime University. 2026, 52(1): 31-39

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