The sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk significantly in the last decades. The transport pattern has as a result partly changed with more traffic in remote areas. This change may influence on the risk pattern. The critical factors are harsh weather, ice conditions, remoteness and vulnerability of nature. In this paper, we look into the risk of accidents in Atlantic Arctic based on previous ship accidents and the changes in maritime activity. The risk has to be assessed to ensure a proper level of emergency response. The consequences of incidents depend on the incident type, scale and location. As accidents are rare, there are limited statistics available for Arctic maritime accidents. Hence, this study offers a qualitative analysis and an expert-based risk assessment. Implications for the emergency preparedness system of the Arctic region are discussed.
This paper presents the flexible containership loading problem for seaport container terminals. The integrated management of loading operations, planning of the transport vehicles to use and their scheduling is what we define as the Flexible Ship Loading Problem (FSLP). The flexibility comes from a cooperative agreement between the terminal operator and the liner shipping company, specifying that the terminal has the right to decide which specific container to load for each slot obeying the class-based stowage plan received from the liner. We formulate a mathematical model for the problem. Then we present various modelling enhancements and a mathematical model to obtain strong lower bounds. We also propose a heuristic algorithm to solve the problem. It is shown that enhancements improve the performance of formulation significantly, and the heuristic efficiently generates high-quality solutions. Results also point out that substantial cost savings can be achieved by integrating the ship loading operations.
The 0.1% sulphur limit within Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA) has made compulsory the use of either pricier ultra-low sulphur fuel, or the installation of abatement technologies that require significant capital investments. Due to the unexpectedly low fuel prices, Ro-Ro operators have been able to cope with the new sulphur limits, but recent research has shown that if fuel prices increase some Ro-Ro services may face the risk of closure. This paper proposes three key performance indicators (KPIs) to enable the asssessment of the impact of SECAs on Ro-Ro shipping. The KPIs are used on a set of case studies for services of a leading European Ro-Ro operator, and allow benchmarking of a series of operational and policy measures that aim to reverse the negative impacts of SECAs. The operational measures consider speed reduction, new sailing frequency, fleet reconfiguration, as well as investments in abatement technologies. Policy measures include the options of either subsidizing shippers or ship operators, or alternatively introducing new taxes on landbased options. The KPIs can be useful to ship operators seeking to improve the resilience of their network, as well as to regulatory bodies designing new environmental policies and understanding any negative implications these may have on ship operators.
One objective for countries in the European common market is to optimize the performance of their multimodal logistics chains. The attainment of this goal requires the continuous development of container ports' performance, better customer satisfaction and - at the same time - to deter the occurrence of waste and bottleneck. Many regions in Europe are shifting from a single-port to a multi-port gateway situation; their ports frequently have overlapping hinterlands and are therefore increasingly facing competition and rivalry between each other. This paper examines container ports located in six countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the UK. It focuses on sensitivities to the inclusion of country-specific measurements on logistics service delivery performance outcomes on port efficiency. Port efficiency is measured with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The results suggest that: (1) efficiency measurements for Danish, Finnish, Swedish and British ports are heavily influenced by whether logistics service delivery outcomes are included or not; (2) Icelandic and Norwegian ports appear to be not sensitive to whether logistics service delivery outcomes are included or not; (3) on average, the container ports located in countries that are directly called by deep-sea transcontinental container liners are over-performers and under-performers with regard to technical efficiency and scale efficiency, respectively. We further apply a second-stage regression analysis to explain the impact of country-specific contextual factors on DEA-based efficiency scores.
Temperature data 1900–2010 from meteorological stations across the world have been analyzed and it has been found that all land areas generally have two different valid temperature trends. Coastal stations and hill stations facing ocean winds are normally more warm-trended than the valley stations that are sheltered from dominant oceans winds.
Thus, we found that in any area with variation in the topography, we can divide the stations into the more warm trended ocean air-affected stations, and the more cold-trended ocean air-sheltered stations. We find that the distinction between ocean air-affected and ocean air-sheltered stations can be used to identify the influence of the oceans on land surface. We can then use this knowledge as a tool to better study climate variability on the land surface without the moderating effects of the ocean.
We find a lack of warming in the ocean air sheltered temperature data – with less impact of ocean temperature trends – after 1950. The lack of warming in the ocean air sheltered temperature trends after 1950 should be considered when evaluating the climatic effects of changes in the Earth’s atmospheric trace amounts of greenhouse gasses as well as variations in solar conditions.
The objective of this article is to provide a review of literature dealing with empty container repositioning. This review is interlinked with a qualitative data analysis based on semi-structured interviews with representatives of ocean carriers, which are key actors determining empty container repositioning. Empirical evidence obtained from fieldwork in the Czech Republic, albeit limited, is used to illustrate empty repositioning management by ocean carriers in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) landlocked hinterlands, which have been neglected in research with a specific geographic scope. By addressing the research questions and conducting the analysis, the authors determine whether empty container repositioning is a problem only concerning equipment allocation by an ocean carrier or requires a collaborative resolution involving various parties engaged in container movements in landlocked hinterlands. This article confirms that most existing literature dealing with empty container repositioning ignores the actual dynamics of landlocked hinterlands as well as business practitioners' perspective. The authors' analysis of the empirical research complements and challenges the reviewed research studies. Based on the analysis, ocean carriers seem to be unwilling to revise their actual container management strategies focused on maritime repositioning, disregarding the potential and importance of intermodal repositioning approaches based on market collaboration. Regarding further research directions, the authors suggest the research replicability and its extension.
This paper examines if eco-rating schemes improve environmental outcomes in the context of the international shipping industry. Shipping faces global environmental challenges and has recently witnessed the introduction of several eco-rating schemes aiming to improve the environmental performance of ships. Extending the private environmental governance literature into a mature service industry with global operations, the paper shows that concerns about eco-rating schemes’ effectiveness also have relevance here. Shipping eco-rating schemes fall short of best practices for design and governance, and this hampers improvement efforts. The study has policy implications for the achievement of improved environmental outcomes in the shipping industry.
Over the recent decades, there has been an increasing focus on energy-efficient operation of vessels. It has become part of the political agenda, where regulation is the main driver, but the maritime industry itself has also been driven towards more energy-efficient operation of the vessels, due to increasing fuel costs. Improving the energy efficiency on board vessels is not only a technical issue - factors such as awareness of the problem, knowledge skills and motivation are also important parameters that must be considered.
The paper shows how training in energy-efficient operation and awareness can affect the energy consumption of vessels. The study is based on navigational, full-mission simulator tests conducted at the International Maritime Academy SIMAC. A full-mission simulator is an image of the world allowing the students to obtain skills through learning-by-doing in a safe environment. Human factors and technical issues were included and the test sessions consisted of a combination of practical simulator exercises and reflection workshops.
The result of the simulator tests showed that a combination of installing technical equipment and raising awareness - making room for reflections-on and in-action - has a positive effect on energy consumption. The participants, on average, saved approximately 10% in fuel.
The increasing focus on energy efficient operation of vessels can be seen in both legislation and research. This paper focuses attention on the human factor influencing energy efficiency and explores the conditions for improving energy efficiency in working vessels taking situational awareness (SA) theory into consideration.
The study builds on two cases: an offshore supply vessel for the oil & gas industry and an installation vessel for wind turbines. The study used qualitative methods based on 49 interviews with seafarers and onshore employees from the vessels and shipping companies.
The study has identified that the energy efficiency of a ship is mainly influenced by legislation and the praxis formed on board. The results showed that the theory on SA is very a useful tool in explaining the factors affecting the energy efficiency of a vessel and the praxis.
The study has shown that obtaining a more energy efficient operation is complex and depends not only on the officer on board the ship. The improvement of energy efficiency is possible, but there is a need to understand the complexity of the issue and to involve both the crew and the entire system around the ship, and to obtain a shared perspective of energy efficient operation. Furthermore, in order to improve energy efficiency in shipping companies, there is a need to support the seafarers in gaining more skills for operating the ship more energy efficiently; to do this the right way there is a need to create an understanding of the system by the authorities, ship owners and charterers.
The literature on liner shipping includes many models on containership speed optimization, fleet deployment, fleet size and mix, network design and other problem variants and combinations. Many of these models, and in fact most models at the tactical planning level, assume a fixed revenue for the ship operator and as a result they typically minimize costs. This treatment does not capture a fundamental characteristic of shipping market behavior, that ships tend to speed up in periods of high freight rates and slow down in depressed market conditions. This paper develops a simple model for a fixed route scenario which, among other things, incorporates the influence of freight rates, along with that of fuel prices and cargo inventory costs into the overall decision process. The objective to be maximized is the line’s average daily profit. Departing from convention, the model is also able to consider flexible service frequencies, to be selected from a broader set than the standard assumption of one call per week. It is shown that this may lead to better solutions and that the cost of forcing a fixed frequency can be significant. Such cost is attributed either to additional fuel cost if the fleet is forced to sail faster to accommodate a frequency that is higher than the optimal one, or to lost income if the opposite is the case. The impact of the line’s decisions on CO2 emissions is also examined and illustrative runs of the model are made on three existing services.