Commercial small-scale fisheries along the Baltic Sea coasts have declined over the years although these fisheries are viewed as important for coastal development and food security at the local, national, and EU levels. The viability and future of small-scale fisheries are severely challenged by problems caused by grey seals. The conflict, occurring between Baltic Sea coastal fisheries and conservation of the grey seals, has been severe since the mid-1990s and continues despite attempts to find a more balanced situation. Resting on reviews of multiple material, this paper explores the state-of-the-art opportunities for mitigating the seal-fisheries conflict and asks how these are related to social struggles and social justice. Our paper concludes that co-existence of coastal fisheries and the grey seal is possible but necessitates political will and co-designed seal management plans that help implement context-specific measures. Seal deterrents, for instance, give hope as a supplementary conflict mitigation measure – along with seal-proof fishing gear – but provide only partial relief. From the fisheries sector’s position, influencing the size of the seal population is a logical solution. The lifting of the EU trade ban of seal products as a regional derogation would allow sustainable management of seal populations so that they be used as renewable natural resource. Monitoring changes in the seal population is crucial for maintaining a balanced population. Reaching co-existence is timely, because – unlike the seal – the diverse Baltic coastal fishing culture is increasingly endangered.
This study examines how the work of the International Law Commission (ILC) has contributed to the ‘progressive development’ of general international law relevant to regulating rescue and disembarkation of refugees and migrants found at sea. It explores the ILC’s texts on interpretation and implementation of international obligations, state responsibility, fragmentation and harmonization of international law, and the status of certain principles of general international law, including jus cogens general principles of law and the principle of good faith, which present legal parameters for regulation of maritime search and rescue operations. In conducting doctrinal examinations of international law and gathering evidence of the practice of States and other relevant actors, the ILC contributes by analysing, clarifying, and systemising important topics of general international law. However, state implementation frequently falls short of the legal interpretations of the ILC, particularly as they relate to respect for and protection of human rights at sea. Therefore, while the ILC needs new strategies to directly connect with States and international organisations, it remains reliant on the mutual following of national and international courts and tribunals, and its mutual contribution in scholarship.
In this paper, the nonlinear interaction of regular water waves propagating over a fixed and submerged circular cylinder is numerically studied. At the structure’s lee side, the free surface profile experiences strong nonlinear deformation where the superharmonic free wave generated can be significant and is superposed on the transmitted wave. The wave profile then becomes asymmetric and skewed and may eventually reach the point of physical wave breaking. The governing equation and boundary conditions of this wave–structure interaction problem are formulated using both the fully nonlinear and the weak-scatterer theory. The corresponding boundary value problem is numerically solved by the immersed-boundary adaptive harmonic polynomial cell solver. In this study, a pragmatic wave-breaking suppression model is incorporated into the original solver. Both the harmonic free wave amplitudes at the structure’s lee side and the harmonic vertical forces on the cylinder are studied. The simulated harmonic wave amplitudes are compared to other published experiments and theoretical data. In general, good agreement is achieved. The effects of the incorporated wave-breaking suppression model on the simulated results are discussed. In our study, the incorporation of the pragmatic wave-breaking suppression model successfully extends the capabilities of the original fully nonlinear immersed-boundary adaptive harmonic polynomial cell solver.
Crude oil and cadmium (Cd) are common pollutants in Ghana's coastal ecosystems, where the cyanobacterial phytoplankton Synechococcus sp. serves as the primary producer and forms the base of the marine food web alongside small grazers. We hypothesized that cadmium and crude oil would disrupt microbial community structure and function, with the strongest effects under combined exposure. This study investigates the toxic effects of Oil (2 mL L−1), Cd (4.4 μg L−1), and their combined impact (Cd + Oil) on functional groups within the coastal microbial community, including Synechococcus sp., heterotrophic bacteria, nanoflagellates, eukaryotic phytoplankton, ciliates, and dinoflagellates, as well as on copepod nauplii and copepodite development during six-day incubations. We observed acute toxic effects on heterotrophic ciliates and dinoflagellates, with >50 % reductions in abundance within 6 h and a marked decrease in diversity. Phytoplankton showed growth within the first 24 h due to nutrient replenishment from the protist decay, however, their growth continued to decline after 24 h, with Synechococcus being particularly sensitive to Cd and less affected by Oil. In contrast, heterotrophic bacteria increased in abundance across all treatments, likely benefiting from organic matter released during phytoplankton decay and their high adaptability. Notably, the bacterial genera Marivivens and Rhodovulum became dominant mainly in the Oil-amended treatments. Overall, the microbial groups exhibited diverse responses to the pollutants, with the combined Cd + Oil treatment exerting the strongest negative effects, while crude oil alone had the least impact. These findings highlight the vulnerability of tropical microbial food webs, typically dominated by Synechococcus and microbial grazers, to combined pollutant stress, with potential cascading effects on higher trophic levels and coastal ecosystem productivity. This highlights the need for comprehensive monitoring and conservation efforts in these globally significant, yet understudied, regions.
Mobilization of residual oil droplets is the key process for enhanced oil recovery. Visualization of the droplet movement at a pore level provides insights on the underlying physical mechanisms. We couple a microfluidic droplet generator and a thin glass capillary to study the movement of oil droplets under salinity gradients with visualization of individual droplet movements. The driving forces that affect the movement of the droplets are discussed. We demonstrate experimentally that oil droplets in micro-confined channels can be mobilized and move against pressure under the concentration gradients of dissolved salts. The gradient-driven movement can be strong enough to drive a droplet through a narrow constriction in the middle of the capillary channel. The droplet movement can be understood by combining a Marangoni stress due to surfactant redistribution, electrostatic interaction and diffusiophoresis. This suggests that the abrupt change of salinity may be one of the physical mechanisms of smart waterflooding.
Large volumes of produced water are being discharged globally as byproducts of oil production. Commercial production chemicals are conventionally needed to avoid problems such as bacterial growth, pipe corrosion, and oil/water separation issues. These chemicals will partition between oil and water phases and may affect both treatment processes and the environmental impact when water is discharged to the ocean after treatment. Capillary zone electrophoresis is used to measure partitioning coefficients of oilfield chemicals when these are dissolved in the water phase and in contact with either octanol or crude oil. The technique is fast and, due to simplicity, could have merits as on-site assessment of the partition coefficient for direct assessment of the fate of chemicals. The method was first qualified by estimating partitioning coefficients of aliphatic carboxylic acids and chemicals with a molecular structure similar to those of some production chemicals. Subsequently, the coefficients were determined for two different commercial corrosion inhibitors and a biocide that are used in the oilfield as production chemicals. The results showed that the chemicals predominantly preferred to remain in the water phase after contact with either octanol or crude oil. The partitioning coefficients log(p) spanned between −0.36 and −1.68 in the case of water/octanol contact and between 2.68 and −1.41 in the case of water/crude oil contact. One of the corrosion inhibitors exhibited a significant difference in the partitioning depending on whether the organic phase was octanol or crude oil. The chemical had a preference for the water phase in the case of the former but a preference for the crude oil phase in the case of the latter. The result demonstrates that it makes it challenging to evaluate the use of partitioning coefficients for oilfield applications.
This study investigates the critical parameters necessary for evaluating large-scale renewable offshore energy hubs, based on insights from industry experts. Using a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis methodology, the experts emphasized that, in their view, technical and economic parameters rank higher than environmental and societal considerations when evaluating large-scale renewable offshore projects, including green hydrogen production. Environmental and societal parameters should not be neglected, but they ought to be evaluated outside this assessment framework. This could refer to the environmental impact assessment already in use. These findings provide a foundation for evolving the traditional Triple Bottom Line theory into a Quadruple Bottom Line approach by incorporating technical parameters alongside economic, social, and environmental factors, while addressing the specific challenges of offshore energy hubs. Among all the parameters ranked across the four domains, the top 15 were exclusively techno-economic, with technical and economic scores averaging 4.5 and 4.3 out of 5, respectively. In contrast, societal and environmental scores averaged below 3.0. To ensure the successful deployment of offshore energy hubs, a stepwise approach is recommended to manage complexity, reduce risks, and support scalable solutions. This approach aims to align the needed industrial parameters with the demands of the energy transition.
A novel damping system is developed to address offshore wind turbine tower vibration exacerbated by global warming-induced coastal extreme weather. Through parametric optimization, it stabilizes nacelle displacement under normal loads and reduces responses in diverse wind conditions: 18.8% max bending stress reduction during gusts, 26.3% nacelle displacement mitigation under high turbulence, and 7.9% displacement standard deviation reductions in 50-year extreme winds. A Norwegian wind farm extends tower life by 44% at the tower top and 99.36% at the tower base. Under varying gust angles, it reduces nacelle displacement (4.3%) and bottom bending moment (3.2%), enhancing structural stability. These demonstrate their potential to cut maintenance costs and extend lifetime, which is crucial for offshore wind turbine development.
Background
The transfer of offshore wind farm workers between transport vessels and wind turbines is a hazardous operation with a disproportionately high occurrence of "high potential" incidents. Motion sickness has been reported to affect offshore wind farm worker well-being, and has been identified as a job demand, especially during crew transfer and ladder-climbing operations.
This scoping review sought to determine the extent to which current research defines, describes, and quantifies MS among offshore wind farm workers and to identify relevant research gaps.
Methods
Using terms related to motion sickness and offshore wind farm operations, searches were conducted of the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Studies published in English between 1990 and 2024 were included.
Results
795 articles were retrieved, of which 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. The included articles describe MS as a job demand but do not clearly define it in the research context. Consequently, it remains unclear which symptoms of MS constitute a job demand and how workers are affected. Additionally, indications of motion sickness prevalence are required, using a clear definition which accounts for the wide range of subjective symptoms other than vomiting.
No research appears to have been carried out where motion sickness among wind farm workers has been studied as a broad occupational health issue within the offshore wind energy sector.
Conclusions
This review identifies significant research gaps concerning motion sickness among offshore wind farm workers. Motion sickness-related issues have either been overlooked, studied in isolation, or insufficiently addressed. These issues constitute empirical, methodological, and knowledge gaps, necessitating a need for systematic studies that address these research gaps in the context of the offshore wind energy sector.
Port Integrated Multi-Energy Systems (PIMES) play a critical role in advancing sustain-ability at ports. Assessing the dynamic contribution of PIMES to port sustainability is essential for guiding future developments. This research introduces an innovative multi-criteria dynamic sustainability assessment framework tailored to evaluate the performance of PIMES. The framework employs a diverse set of indicators covering multiple criteria to comprehensively assess different aspects of PIMES. A game theory-based combined weighting approach is uniquely applied to integrate subjective and objective evaluations, ensuring a balanced and robust assessment. Furthermore, the cloud model is utilized for an in-depth evaluation of the overall sustainability of PIMES, offering a novel perspective on managing uncertainty. The framework's applicability and effectiveness are demonstrated through a case study of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, with a sensitivity analysis of the indicators conducted to enhance reliability and confirm the robustness of the proposed method. The evaluation results indicate that during the development of the PIMES, the sustainability performance of the studied port improves progressively, with ratings of “average”, “poor”, “average”, “average”, “good”, and “excellent”. The sensitivity analysis shows that the sustainability of ports is most influenced by the failure loss rate and operation & maintenance cost of PIMES. This framework can serve as a decision-making tool for port authorities to enhance energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and achieve long-term sustainability objectives at ports.