Introduction to Management Science 12th Edition by Bernard Taylor

Exercise 41

Ships arrive at the port of Savannah at the rate of 40 per 30-day month (Poisson distributed), generally with a full cargo of containers. It takes an average of 12 hours (exponentially distributed) to unload and load an average size container ship. Currently the port has one general use terminal with sufficient quay cranes for loading and unloading.
a. Determine the average number of ships waiting for a vacant terminal berth, and the waiting time for a ship.
b. Ship traffic at the port is estimated to increase to 60 ships per month next year. Will the port be able to handle the additional traffic If not, how many terminals will the port need to handle the additional traffic
c. If the ship traffic at the port increases to 80 ships per month in the year after next, and using the number of terminals determined in part b, how will that affect ship waiting times