Application of Fuzzy Delphi-AHP-TOPSIS for Selecting an International Crew Change Center in Taiwan

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has brought disruption to the global economy and to international passenger and cargo transportation, and the unprecedented crew change crisis remains an issue for governments around the world to address. The selection of a port for international crew changes is a major decision for a country, and this port selection can be considered as a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) issue. As with other facility-siting issues, the issue of selecting a port for international crew changes requires consideration of several criteria relative to cargo transshipment, and since this process involves uncertainty, fuzzy logic must be incorporated into the process to obtain more accurate results. This study proceeds from the standpoint of shipping companies and ship management companies, conducting a survey questionnaire on carriers calling at Taiwan ports using cargo structure, transit costs, transit time, environmental factors, geographic location, infrastructure, and crew safety certification facilities. Fuzzy Delphi and FAHP are used to obtain the subjective opinions of carriers and FTOPSIS is used to explore and prioritize the objective opinions of carriers on international crew change ports. This is then used to construct an evaluation model of the key factors influencing the selection of an international crew change location for the development of Taiwanese ports. The results of the study showed that the hinterland industry economy was the main key factor and Kaohsiung container terminal 5 was the most suitable place for crew replacement.