The strategic berth template problem (SBTP) is an important strategic problem arising at the seaside of container terminals. It aims at supporting terminal managers in deciding which calling ships should be accepted, and it covers determining the most appropriate berth template for the accepted incoming traffic. In this work, we propose and evaluate two formulations. One is based on a conceptual but yet unexplored mathematical model and another is based on a generalized set -packing problem (GSP). Both formulations are assessed on a welldefined set of problem instances. The results indicate that the GSP-based optimization model exhibits a relevant performance, providing optimal solutions within reasonable time for most of the instances considered.