An algorithm, published in Sluiman, F. J. (2017), Transit Vessel Scheduling, Naval Research Logistics, 64, 225-248, DOI: 10.1002/nav.21742, schedules transit vessel traffic in two-way waterways where safe distances between transiting vessels must be maintained and passage restrictions may hold. The algorithm limits the negative effects of the safety constraints on cargo volume by finding more efficient schedules.
A plausible model of the Strait of Istanbul has been developed, while the Suez Canal has been identified as a waterway where the algorithm could serve to increase the volume of goods transported. Cross traffic and traffic joining and leaving the waterway at junctions can also be scheduled, which the research team said would be particularly useful in congested waters with a high risk of collisions, such as the Inland Sea of Japan where the main fairways intersect with the fairways used by coasters
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/nav.21742/full