Optimal dispatch of emergency materials for major maritime accidents based on sea–road multimodal transport

A rapid and effective emergency response is crucial for mitigating the catastrophic consequences of maritime accidents. To improve the effectiveness of emergency material dispatch, this study developed a novel dispatch model based on sea–road multimodal transport to address the complex and evolving conditions in marine emergency scenarios. Given that single transport modes struggle to meet both timeliness and coverage requirements, this study combines the large capacity of sea transport with the flexibility of land transport to enhance dispatch adaptability and reduce response time. Then, time satisfaction is introduced to assess response effectiveness by considering the urgency of different materials in various accidents. Finally, an improved nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is proposed to optimize the emergency materials dispatch scheme. The numerical example indicates that the proposed emergency materials dispatch model could significantly improve the response time and material allocation accuracy for accident rescue, providing a comprehensive solution to improve emergency response effectiveness following major marine accidents.