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Counter-piracy: Navigating the cloudy waters of international law, domestic law and human rights

Birgit Feldtmann

This edited volume examines the continued viability of international human rights law in the context of growing transnational law enforcement. With states increasingly making use of global governance modes, core exercises of public authority such as migration control, surveillance, detention and policing, are increasingly conducted extraterritorially, outsourced to foreign governments or delegated to non-state actors.

New forms of cooperation raise difficult questions about divided, shared and joint responsibility under international human rights law. At the same time, some governments engage in transnational law enforcement exactly to avoid such responsibilities, creatively seeking to navigate the complex, overlapping and sometimes unclear bodies of international law. As such, this volume argues that this area represents a particular dark side of globalisation, requiring both scholars and practitioners to revisit basic assumptions and legal strategies.

The volume will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners of international relations, human rights and public international law.

CRC Press / 2016
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Laboratory Investigation of Cross-Shore Lagrangian Velocities Of Buoyant Microplastic Particles in Irregular Waves

Bjarke Eltard Larsen*, Mustafa A. A. Obaidi, Hasan Gokhan Guler, Stefan Carstensen, Koray Deniz Goral, Erik Damgaard Christensen, Nils B. Kerpen, Torsten Schlurmann, David R. Fuhrman

This paper presents a wave flume investigation of beaching times for buoyant microplastic particles dropped at various distance from the shoreline. The beaching times are used to quantify the cross-shore Lagrangian transport velocities of the microplastic particles. Results show that prior to breaking, there is little dependence on particle characteristics (e.g. their rise velocity), and the particles travel onshore with a velocity close to the Lagrangian fluid particle velocity. In the surf zone the Lagrangian transport velocities of the microplastic particles increase significantly, becoming closer to the wave celerity. Additionally, particle characteristics become important, as particles with low Dean numbers (high rise velocity) have a greater tendency to be captured by surface rollers relative to particles with larger Dean numbers (lower rise velocity). An empirical relation is formulated for predicting the cross-shore Lagrangian transport velocities of buoyant microplastic particles. The expression matches the present experiments well and is valid for both non-breaking and breaking irregular waves. These findings help in understanding the accumulation of microplastics at beaches due to the surf-zone processes, especially for buoyant particles.

World Scientific / 2023
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Experimental investigation on the nearshore transport of buoyant microplastic particles

Bjarke Eltard Larsen*, Mustafa Ali Abdullah Al-Obaidi, Hasan Gokhan Guler, Stefan Carstensen, Koray Deniz Goral, Erik Damgaard Christensen, Nils B. Kerpen, Torsten Schlurmann, David R. Fuhrman

This paper presents experimental measurements of beaching times for buoyant microplastic particles released, both in the pre-breaking region and within the surf zone. The beaching times are used to quantify cross-shore Lagrangian transport velocities of the microplastics. Prior to breaking the particles travel onshore with a velocity close to the Lagrangian fluid particle velocity, regardless of particle characteristics. In the surf zone the Lagrangian velocities of the microplastics increase and become closer to the wave celerity. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that particles having low Dean numbers (dimensionless fall velocity) are transported at higher mean velocities, as they have a larger tendency to be at the free-surface relative to particles with higher Dean numbers. An empirical relation is formulated for predicting the cross-shore Lagrangian transport velocities of buoyant microplastic particles, valid for both non-breaking and breaking irregular waves. The expression matches the present experiments well, in addition to two prior studies.

Marine Pollution Bulletin / 2023
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paper

Fault tolerant position-mooring control for offshore vessels

Blanke, Mogens; Nguyen, Dong Trong

Fault-tolerance is crucial to maintain safety in offshore operations. The objective of this paper is to show how systematic analysis and design of fault-tolerance is conducted for a complex automation system, exemplified by thruster assisted Position-mooring. Using redundancy as required by classification societies' class notations for offshore position controlled vessels, the paper shows how violations of normal behaviour of main components can be detected and isolated. Using a functional service philosophy, diagnosis procedures are auto-generated based on provable correct graph analysis methods. Functional faults that are only detectable, are rendered isolable through an active isolation approach. Once functional faults are isolated, they are handled by fault accommodation techniques to meet overall control objectives specified by class requirements. The paper illustrates the generic methodology by a system to handle faults in mooring lines, sensors or thrusters. Simulations and model basin experiments are carried out to validate the concept for scenarios with single or multiple faults. The results demonstrate that enhanced availability and safety are obtainable with this design approach. While methods are introduced at a tutorial level, the paper is original by providing a total Position-mooring system design that ensures resilience to any single fault and to selected multiple faults.

Ocean Engineering, Volume 148 / 2018
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Systems Approaches Are Still Providing New Avenues for Research as the Foundation of Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Britta Gammelgaard

As a young researcher—admittedly a long time ago—I was struggling with capturing the connections of the many published articles on logistics management. Apparently, many articles dealt with the same topics, yet they were not the same. There seemed to be different viewpoints on what was a scientific contribution and what kinds of methods were allowed. Why did everyone not agree with these questions? Without an understanding of the different research traditions, it was difficult to compare results, validate them and create a meaningful discussion of the various contributions.

Within the Nordic research community, which consists of economists, engineers and management researchers, there were several answers to these questions. In this community, I learnt about systems from engineers. Then, it became clear that there are various philosophies of science that do not have the same understanding of what a theory is and what appropriate methods are. I was searching the philosophy of science literature for a systems perspective and the research implications of such a perspective. To my surprise, I did not find it here, but luckily, I came across a book about methodologies in business research where the systems approach was one of three approaches. I also learnt that, depending on the methodology, the term theory has a different meaning depending on the philosophy of science it originates from. That made a lot of sense to me. Understanding this better, I published my research on this topic in “Schools in Logistics Research” in 2004 (Gammelgaard, 2004). This rather old article is still my daily research guide.

The International Journal of Logistics Management / 2023
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paper

Next Generation Supply Chain Management: The Impact of Cloud Computing

Britta Gammelgaard, Katarzyna Nowicka*

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of cloud computing (CC) on supply chain management (SCM).

Design/methodology/approach
The paper is conceptual and based on a literature review and conceptual analysis.

Findings
Today, digital technology is the primary enabler of supply chain (SC) competitiveness. CC capabilities support competitive SC challenges through structural flexibility and responsiveness. An Internet platform based on CC and a digital ecosystem can serve as “information cross-docking” between SC stakeholders. In this way, the SC model is transformed from a traditional, linear model to a platform model with the simultaneous cooperation of all partners. Platform-based SCs will be a milestone in the evolution of SCM – here conceptualised as Supply Chain 3.0.

Research limitations/implications
Currently, SCs managed holistically in cyberspace are rare in practice, and therefore empirical evidence on how digital technologies impact SC competitiveness is required in future research.

Practical implications
This research generates insights that can help managers understand and develop the next generation of SCM with the use of CC, a modern and commonly available Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) tool.

Originality/value
The paper presents a conceptual basis of how CC enables structural flexibility of SCs through easy, real-time resource and capacity reconfiguration. CC not only reduces cost and increases flexibility but also offers an effective solution for disruptive new business models with the potential to revolutionise current SCM thinking.

Journal of Enterprise Information Management / 2023
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paper

Value Creation Through Sustainable Supplier Management in Maritime Transport

Britta Langer & Michele Acciaro

The interest in sustainability in the maritime industry has been on the rise. Attention has shifted from how to develop and comply with environmental regulation and labour standards to a more integrated view on sustainable maritime transport that aims at incorporating sustainability in maritime firm strategies. The liner shipping industry, which has been at the forefront, plays a crucial role in global supply chains, with its commitment to sustainable maritime container transport gaining recognition. In particular, procurement relationships stand out as an area where sustainability can exert the most significant impact. Ocean transport is among the most widely outsourced services globally both by shippers and by freight forwarders. Unlike bulk transport, container ocean transport is always outsourced, as shippers do not use their own vessels. Yet, the selection criteria that logistics firms use regarding sustainability when choosing ocean transport service providers and the role of sustainability in value creation among shippers/freight forwarders and ocean transport providers have been scarcely explored.

This article delves into value creation via quality improvement and sustainability practices in ocean freight transport. Employing a case study of an ocean carrier, alongside interviews and survey data, it explores how liner shipping companies can leverage high-quality and sustainable operations to enhance service for their clients and create logistics value. A novel aspect of this study is the application of sustainable supplier management concepts to maritime logistics, highlighting how shippers’ sustainability requirements in sourcing ocean freight services shape procurement relationships and how shipping companies can employ sustainable procurement strategies for value creation.

Transportation Research Procedia / 2025
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A Base Integer Programming Model and Benchmark Suite for Liner-Shipping Network Design

Brouer, Berit D; Alvarez, J Fernando; Plum, Christian Edinger Munk; Pisinger, David; Sigurd, Mikkel M.

The liner-shipping network design problem is to create a set of nonsimple cyclic sailing routes for a designated fleet of container vessels that jointly transports multiple commodities. The objective is to maximize the revenue of cargo transport while minimizing the costs of operation. The potential for making cost-effective and energy-efficient liner-shipping networks using operations research (OR) is huge and neglected. The implementation of logistic planning tools based upon OR has enhanced performance of airlines, railways, and general transportation companies, but within the field of liner shipping, applications of OR are scarce. We believe that access to domain knowledge and data is a barrier for researchers to approach the important liner-shipping network design problem. The purpose of the benchmark suite and the paper at hand is to provide easy access to the domain and the data sources of liner shipping for OR researchers in general. We describe and analyze the liner-shipping domain applied to network design and present a rich integer programming model based on services that constitute the fixed schedule of a liner shipping company. We prove the liner-shipping network design problem to be strongly NP-hard. A benchmark suite of data instances to reflect the business structure of a global liner shipping network is presented. The design of the benchmark suite is discussed in relation to industry standards, business rules, and mathematical programming. The data are based on real-life data from the largest global liner-shipping company, Maersk Line, and supplemented by data from several industry and public stakeholders. Computational results yielding the first best known solutions for six of the seven benchmark instances is provided using a heuristic combining tabu search and heuristic column generation.

Transportation Science Vol. 48, No. 2 / 2014
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Optimization in liner shipping

Brouer, Berit Dangaard; Karsten, Christian Vad; Pisinger, David

Seaborne trade is the lynchpin in almost every international supply chain, and about 90% of non-bulk cargo worldwide is transported by container. In this survey we give an overview of data-driven optimization problems in liner shipping. Research in liner shipping is motivated by a need for handling still more complex decision problems, based on big data sets and going across several organizational entities. Moreover, liner shipping optimization problems are pushing the limits of optimization methods, creating a new breeding ground for advanced modelling and solution methods. Starting from liner shipping network design, we consider the problem of container routing and speed optimization. Next, we consider empty container repositioning and stowage planning as well as disruption management. In addition, the problem of bunker purchasing is considered in depth. In each section we give a clear problem description, bring an overview of the existing literature, and go in depth with a specific model that somehow is essential for the problem. We conclude the survey by giving an introduction to the public benchmark instances LINER-LIB. Finally, we discuss future challenges and give directions for further research.

4OR volume 15 / 2017
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A multi-dimensional approach to improve validation practices for qualitative models of marine social-ecological systems

Bruno Oliveira, Nuno V. Álvaro, Furqan Asif , Andrea Z. Botelho, João Canning-Clode, Daniela Casimiro, Candelaria Cecilia-Ruano, Catherine Chambers, Ana C. Costa, Ana Dinis, Jesús P. García, Ricardo Haroun, Unn Laksá, Gustavo M. Martins, Alexander H. McGrath, Caterina Mintrone, Mirjam Carlsdóttir Olsen, Manuela I. Parente, Paola Parretti, Sarai PousoChiara Ravaglioli, Maria AM Ventura, Talea Weissang, Sandra Rybicki, Pamela J. Woods, Anna H. Olafsdottir & Angel Borja

Current modeling practices for social-ecological systems (SES) are often qualitative and use causal loop diagrams (CLDs), as these models promote an evaluation of the systems loops and variable connectivity. Our literature review demonstrated that quality assurance of these models often lacks a consistent validation procedure. Therefore, a guide to improving the validation of qualitative models is presented. The presumed utility protocol is a multi-dimensional protocol with 26 criteria, organized into four dimensions, designed to assess specific parts of the modeling process and provide recommendations for improvement. This protocol was applied to three demonstration cases, located in the Arctic Northeast Atlantic Ocean, Macaronesia, and the Tuscan archipelago. The “Specific Model Tests” dimension, which focuses on the structure of the model, revealed positive evaluations of its structure, boundaries, and capacity to be scaled up. "Guidelines and Processes", which focuses on the meaning and representativeness of the process, showed positive results regarding purpose, usefulness, presentation, and meaningfulness. "Policy Insights and Spillovers", a dimension focused on the policy recommendations, revealed a high number of "not apply", indicating that several criteria are too advanced for the status of the models tested. The "Administrative, Review, and Overview" dimension, which focused on the managerial overview, showed the models needed improvement in the documentation and replicability, while time and cost constraints were positively evaluated. The presumed utility protocol has shown to be a useful tool providing quantitative and qualitative evaluations for an intermediate evaluation of the model-building process, helping to substantiate confidence, with recommendations for improvements and applications elsewhere.

Current Research in Environmental Sustainability / 2025
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