Green House Gas (GHG) emissions are not the only emissions of concern to the international transport community. SOx emissions are non-GHG emissions that are caused by the presence of sulphur in the fuel. As the maximum percentage of sulphur in automotive and aviation fuels is strictly regulated in most countries around the world, much of the attention in recent years has focused on maritime transport. The attention mainly stems from the fact that in marine fuels the percentage of sulphur can be very high: it can be as high as 4.5 % in Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO), which is the fuel typically used in all deep-sea trades. Even though the amounts of SOx produced by ships are substantially lower than CO2, SOx emissions are highly undesirable as they cause acid rain and undesirable health effects in humans and animals. To mitigate these adverse environmental effects, the international shipping community has taken substantial policy measures. With the introduction of new limits for the content of sulphur in marine fuels in Northern European and North American sea areas, short-sea companies operating in these areas will face substantial additional cost. As of 1/1/2015, international regulations stipulate, among other things, a 0.1%limit in the sulphur content of marine fuels, or equivalent measures limiting the percent of SOx emissions to the same amount. As low-sulphur fuel is substantially more expensive than HFO, there is little or no room within these companies current margins to absorb such additional cost, and thus significant price increases must be expected. Unlike its deep-sea counterpart, in short-sea shipping such a freight rate increase may induce shippers to use landbased alternatives (mainly road). A reverse shift of cargo would go against the EU policy to shift traffic from land to sea to reduce congestion, and might ultimately (under certain circumstances) increase the overall level of CO2 emissions along the entire supply chain. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the potential effect of sulphur regulations on the share of cargo transported by the waterborne mode vis-à-vis land-based alternatives.
This white paper shows how small and medium sized companies (SME) involved in supply chains affiliated to the maritime industry and port industrial areas are challenged by the diffusion of technologies and managerial principles associated with Industry 4.0 with a special focus on blockchain technology. Blockchain technology creates potential for added value through transparency and auditability of data flows that arise through system decentralization, where intermediary parties such as a central authority will not store data or verify transactions. Instead of conventional workflows, the technology brings new approaches to collaboration by combining multiple parties with equality of data ownership. In doing so, blockchain technology challenges conventional rules of data ownership.
While attention on blockchain technology has been increasing, most blockchain projects are still under development. However, the technology gained ground in areas such as healthcare, governance, and supply chain management. This white paper focuses on the potentials and challenges of blockchain technology in maritime related supply chains.
Based on a discussion of industry preparedness for Industry 4.0, a taxonomy of blockchain adoption is presented. The taxonomy is based on two dimensions including: (1) the digital complexity of internal activities and (2) the degree of value chain integration between actors in the supply chain. The dimensions encompass four archetypes of behavior on blockchain adoption that are applied in the following analysis.
The potential for blockchain technology is increasingly evident in supply chain logistics and manufacturing that is often located in industrial areas such as ports. By studying blockchain potentials in Danish maritime SMEs, the findings reflect the currently limited insight into blockchain technology from the point of view of business actors. As shown in the study of three Danish supply chains, containers, seafood and recirculated plastics, there are low-hanging potentials to be realized through changes to the current technologies and systems in application.
Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) requires a spatially explicit framework for decision-making, and on that background the overall objective of BONUS BASMATI is to develop integrated and innovative solutions for MSP from the local to the Baltic Sea Region scale. This is to be realised through multi-level governance structures and interactive information technology aiming at developing an ecologically and socio-economically sound network of protected marine areas covering the Baltic Sea. Based on the results of former MSP projects, the BONUS BASMATI project sets out to analyse governance systems and their information needs regarding MSP in the Baltic Sea region in order to develop an operational, transnational model for MSP, while maintaining compliance with existing governance systems. It also develops methods and tools for assessments of different plan-proposals, while including spatially explicit pressures and effects on maritime ecosystem services in order to create the Baltic Explorer, which is a spatial decision support system (SDSS) for the Baltic Sea region to facilitate broad access to information. During the project running until 2020, new data will be produced and tested in assessments corresponding to policy goals. The data will support the combined analysis of the three elements of the concept of ecosystem services: the capacity, flow and benefit of provisioning, regulating and cultural services. A central aim of the project is to facilitate cross-border collaboration, and the project is carried out in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders in the BSR. The impact of the project will be facilitated and assessed in transnational case studies, where integrated solutions are required. The local scale will consist of case study areas in the South-West Baltic, the Latvian territorial and EEZ waters including open part of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga, and across the region, a pan-Baltic case study will be performed.
Capacitors are fundamental electronic passive components and there are nearly everywhere. There are many different capacitors technologies, with different dielectric materials, form factors and terminals and housings available. This short encyclopedic article discuss the main capacitor types which are relevant for power electronic applications. The main types are Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors, Metallized Film Capacitor, Ceramic Capacitors and Supercapacitors. The principal construction, materials and properties and technological limitations are discussed. Further new upcoming trends of new materials and designs are presented.
What is the role of the sea in globalized capitalism? In their new book Capitalism and the Sea: The Maritime Factor in the Making of the Modern World, Liam Campling and Alejandro Colás explore this question through a historical and geographical lens. In this book, the authors track the larger history of maritime commerce and pursue new understandings of the role of the sea in the global economy. In doing so, they illuminate the understudied maritime spaces, systems, and flows that underpin the global economy and create the foundations of global material circulation.
The project "IEA OES Task 10 Phase III - WEC Modelling" is a publicly-funded research project under the Danish Energy Agency EUDP grant with Journal no. 134232-510153. As part of the initial period of the project, a selection of three test cases has been defined under WP2. The present report forms the deliverable for Milestone "M1: Case studies defined".
Coastal communities have ideas and plans on how to redirect the blue economy to
support thriving societies, but how can EU Member States better support bottom-up
transitions?
This is a policy brief included in D5.3 of EmpowerUs.
The safety of people and cargo onboard is a key functionality of a commercial ship.
The health and well-being of seafarers and passengers is protected through an extensive set of technical specifications, standards and norms that govern the design and commissioning of all vessels.
They differ by ship type and size, while the specific services to be provided and the specific geographic regions to be served also play an important role in this respect.
The requirements are of national and international character and vary also with the classification society that will commission the ship. Thus in a broader sense, all competences related to ship design are related one way or another to maritime health.
Much of the design of ships is overseen by a naval architect or marine engineer. It is rare to have the involvement of a medical professional except in the cruise industry.
Purpose and tasks
To ensure that the design of a ship includes the requirements to protect the health and well being of seafarers. More specifically, to identify areas of intervention that go beyond the usual engineering curricula where, nonetheless, the safety dimension is embedded through international standardization.
In a new book, senior researcher Jessica Larsen analyses how relevant anti-piracy legislation was enforced when international ship contributions and regional coastal states cooperated on anti-piracy off the coast of Somalia in 2008-2016.
The book is a socio-legal study based on both clause analyses and ethnographic fieldwork. The book takes the reader on board a warship patrolling the Indian Ocean and into the courtrooms of the island nation of Seychelles, which conducted 17 piracy cases. Through interviews and observations, the book uncovers how anti-piracy legislation works in practice. Existing studies have primarily examined existing law. This book goes out into the field to also uncover applied law.
The analysis shows examples of ambiguity about which legal sources should be applied at sea. It identifies practices in court that show cases of impunity and questions legal certainty. The implications of this should be considered as counter-piracy off Somalia has been used as a model for counter-piracy elsewhere, such as in the Gulf of Guinea.