In the case of satisfactory waterway condition, the scale of the port area affects the tonnage and size of the vessels operated in the port directly, which leads to a higher demand on the tugboat configuration in the port. In this article, a simulation model of the operation system of ships entering and leaving the port is established based on the computer simulation technology to study the optimal quantity of tugboats required in the different handling capacity condition of the port. The result of the study shows that, in a certain range, the demand of the tugboats is increasing with the development of port handling capacity. However, when the handling capacity reaches a certain value, the increase of the tugboats number do not have a significantly effect on the improvement of port handling capacity.

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