There is a talk by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) online by a researcher in this space, which is a pretty good introduction to the problem of stowage

There is a talk by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) online by a researcher in this space, which is a pretty good introduction to the problem of stowage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ltz4G-lPdg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ltz4G-lPdg As somebody actively involved in the space, there are lots of ways you can make life easier for yourself. Planning in blocks per hatch cover, grouping containers by destination, size, and weight and treating those as mostly interchangeable are table stakes. You then want to send a plan from the ship to the terminal before start of operations, so the terminal can also optimize and shuffle given they know the position of containers in the yard. Stowage planning is a lot easier if you decide you're going to ignore the details of each container and only occupy yourself with the groups. The end result is very similar for way less work, and you give a lot more flexibility to the terminal to optimize operations.