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17 pages, 4321 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Supporting Informed Public Reactions to Shipping Incidents with Oil Spill Potential: An Innovative Electronic Platform

by Helen Thanopoulou, Anastasia Patera, Orestis Moresis, Georgios Georgoulis, Vasiliki Lioumi, Athanasios Kanavos, Orestis Papadimitriou, Vassilis Zervakis and Ioannis Dagkinis

Sustainability 2023, 15(20), 15035; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152015035 - 18 Oct 2023

Viewed by 941

Abstract

The analysis of the 2002 Prestige tanker accident showed how public misinformation can worsen marine pollution incidents, rendering their management suboptimal as these evolve, thus raising the issue of appropriately informing and educating coastal and island populations who are at risk. Two decades [...] Read more.

The analysis of the 2002 Prestige tanker accident showed how public misinformation can worsen marine pollution incidents, rendering their management suboptimal as these evolve, thus raising the issue of appropriately informing and educating coastal and island populations who are at risk. Two decades later, developments in electronic platforms, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Automatic Identification System (AIS) for ship signal transmission, and social media, provide a set of means for public monitoring of such incidents, creating the possibility to antagonise effectively erroneous or malevolent information, which can hinder efficient actions for containing marine pollution risks even without active training of the populations concerned. The authors, in the framework of the development of the Marine Coastal Observatory and Risk Management project “AEGIS+”, have developed E-S.A.V.E., an online innovative platform that (a) meets the needs of different users as revealed by a survey run across groups of them, (b) uses a suitable Geographic Information System (GIS) environment, (c) cooperates with public authorities, for the reliable update of automated systems, and (d) employs an artificial intelligence (AI)-supported tool for social media monitoring; the platform also provides educational resources and information on national and international resources on marine environmental protection and sustainable maritime logistics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Maritime Logistics and Sustainable Port Development)

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24 pages, 2657 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Sustainable Port-Hinterland Container Transport System: The Simulation-Based Scenarios for CO₂ Emission Reduction

by Khandaker Rasel Hasan, Wei Zhang and Wenming Shi

Sustainability 2023, 15(12), 9444; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129444 - 12 Jun 2023

Viewed by 1298

Abstract

This paper calculates the CO₂ emissions for the port-hinterland container transport system and proposes possible emission reduction measures. This paper considers the Dhaka–Chittagong port-hinterland transport system in Bangladesh. The port-hinterland transport system represents 70% of the total international maritime containerised trade, including [...] Read more.

This paper calculates the CO₂ emissions for the port-hinterland container transport system and proposes possible emission reduction measures. This paper considers the Dhaka–Chittagong port-hinterland transport system in Bangladesh. The port-hinterland transport system represents 70% of the total international maritime containerised trade, including more than 2.0 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year. By implementing different scenarios using a simulation approach, this research suggests a substantial reduction in CO₂ emissions for the port-hinterland transport system. The scenarios include infrastructure development and performance and operational efficiency improvement in the port and modal shift for the hinterland. In formulating the scenarios, the current performance statistics of the port and its hinterland as well as the possibility of the implementation of these scenarios are carefully analysed. The findings depict that Bangladesh could significantly contribute to the reduction in port-hinterland CO₂ emissions by implementing the suggested scenarios. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Maritime Logistics and Sustainable Port Development)

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17 pages, 3444 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Research on Autonomous Collision Avoidance under the Constraint of COLREGs

by Qiang Li

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2446; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032446 - 30 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1213

Abstract

In this paper, a decision-making model suitable for the collision avoidance (CA) of numerous target ships (TSs) is proposed, based on the principle of ship collision avoidance geometry and the characteristics of numerous target ships’ collision avoidance at sea. To ensure that the [...] Read more.

In this paper, a decision-making model suitable for the collision avoidance (CA) of numerous target ships (TSs) is proposed, based on the principle of ship collision avoidance geometry and the characteristics of numerous target ships’ collision avoidance at sea. To ensure that the collision avoidance behaviors of own-ship (OS) are subject to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), this paper gives full consideration to the requirements of COLREGS within the scope of CA action and the time of collision avoidance. A ship CA simulation is established based on the Mathematical Modeling Group (MMG) model. To optimize the CA decision-making model, the influence of hydrodynamic force on steering time required to reach the new course is integrated into the collision avoidance simulation system. The simulation results show that the method can quickly and effectively determine a collision avoidance decision under the complex situation of numerous target ships and static obstacles, and it can consider the unpredictable strategies used by other vessels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Maritime Logistics and Sustainable Port Development)

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21 pages, 8092 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Regression Analysis Using Broad Learning System for Time-Series Forecast of Ship Fuel Consumption

by Xinyu Li, Yi Zuo and Junhao Jiang

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010380 - 26 Dec 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2381

Abstract

Accurately forecasting the fuel consumption of ships is critical for improving their energy efficiency. However, the environmental factors that affect ship fuel consumption have not been researched comprehensively, and most of the relevant studies continue to present efficiency and accuracy issues. In view [...] Read more.

Accurately forecasting the fuel consumption of ships is critical for improving their energy efficiency. However, the environmental factors that affect ship fuel consumption have not been researched comprehensively, and most of the relevant studies continue to present efficiency and accuracy issues. In view of such problems, a time-series forecasting model of ship fuel consumption based on a novel regression analysis using broad learning system (BLS) was developed in this study. The BLS was compared to a diverse set of fuel consumption forecasting models based on time-series analyses and machine learning techniques, including autoregressive integrated moving average model with exogenous inputs (ARIMAX), support vector regression (SVR), recurrent neural network (RNN), long short-term memory network (LSTM), and extreme learning machines (ELM). In the experiment, two types of passenger roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ship and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrierwere used as research objects to verify the proposed method’s generalizability, with data divided among two groups (R_M, R_B). The experimental results showed that the BLS model is the best choice to forecast fuel consumption in actual navigation, with mean absolute error (MAE) values of 0.0140 and 0.0115 on R_M and R_B, respectively. For the LPG carrier, it has also been proven that the forecast effect is improved when factoring the sea condition, with MAE reaching 0.0108 and 0.0142 under ballast and laden conditions, respectively. Furthermore, the BLS features the advantages of low computing complexity and short forecast time, making it more suitable for real-world applications. The results of this study can therefore effectively improve the energy efficiency of ships by reducing operating costs and emissions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Maritime Logistics and Sustainable Port Development)

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19 pages, 12514 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Simulating the Impact of the Sustained Melting Arctic on the Global Container Sea–Rail Intermodal Shipping

by Zhuo Sun, Ran Zhang and Tao Zhu

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12214; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912214 - 26 Sep 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1359

Abstract

Global warming trends and the rapid reduction of summer Arctic sea ice extent have increased the feasibility of transarctic transport. How the process of glacier melting affects the existing containerized sea–rail shipping network and container flow assignment has become a challenging economic and [...] Read more.

Global warming trends and the rapid reduction of summer Arctic sea ice extent have increased the feasibility of transarctic transport. How the process of glacier melting affects the existing containerized sea–rail shipping network and container flow assignment has become a challenging economic and policy issue. This paper first examines the meteorological influences on glacier melting and the assignment of container flow over the existing sea–rail network. Then, a three-layer simulation framework is constructed, with the upper layer simulating glacier melting based on the raster grid, the middle layer combining a grid and topology analysis to simulate the evolution of the global sea–rail network and the lower layer establishing a concave cost network flow model to simulate the container flow assignment. Finally, we use MicroCity to achieve the dynamic optimization and simulation of global container flow assignment, solving the large-scale sea–rail shipping network traffic assignment problem. The simulation results show that the proposed model and solution algorithm are feasible and effective, revealing the variation of container flow assignment in the global sea–rail shipping network under different Arctic ice melting scenarios. For instance, in the summer of 2050, the Arctic routes will share the global container flows, resulting in a significant reduction of container flows in the Malacca Strait, Suez Canal and Panama Canal. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Maritime Logistics and Sustainable Port Development)

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0 pages, 3247 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Synchronous Handling Technology of Double Stack Container Trains in Sea-Rail Intermodal Terminals

by Zhongbin Zhao, Xifu Wang, Suxin Cheng, Wei Liu and Lijun Jiang

Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11254; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811254 - 8 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1877 | Correction

Abstract

With the advantages of large volume, low unit transportation costs, as well as sustainable and stable transport capacity, China in recent years has actively promoted the innovative pilot of double-stack container sea-rail intermodal transport in the Ningbo-Zhoushan port. In this study, a new [...] Read more.

With the advantages of large volume, low unit transportation costs, as well as sustainable and stable transport capacity, China in recent years has actively promoted the innovative pilot of double-stack container sea-rail intermodal transport in the Ningbo-Zhoushan port. In this study, a new synchronous handling technology is proposed to improve the handling efficiency of double-stack container trains at sea-rail intermodal terminals. This research primarily focuses on the design of an LDAGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle with Loading and Discharging Function) and a new special articulated flat car for double-stack container trains, while also optimizing the overall layout of the container terminal yard. It then evaluates nine double-stack container stacking forms based on the requirements of transport gauge and center of gravity height. Finally, using data from the Ningbo Beilun No. 3 container terminal, a cost-benefit analysis is performed to compare the traditional handling scheme for common double-stack container trains and the new synchronous handling scheme for double-stack container trains with new special articulated flat car. The results show that the application of new synchronous handling technology has obvious advantages in terms of reducing the handling time and operation cost of double-stack container trains in sea-rail intermodal container terminals, as well as enriching the stacking forms of double-tier containers on the new special articulated flat car, thus reducing the difficulty of collecting cargoes and the organization of container source.
Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Maritime Logistics and Sustainable Port Development)

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15 pages, 289 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Development of Audit Market: Benefits of Audit Price Deregulation in China

by Yanming Cao, Zhongwei Zhao, Ning Wang and Liming Zhao

Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 10208; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610208 - 17 Aug 2022

Viewed by 1147

Abstract

Utilizing a unique audit price deregulation policy in China, we examine industry-specialized auditors’ competing strategies in different markets. Our results from the difference-in-difference model reveal that after audit price deregulation, audit fees of industry-specialized auditors in less developed markets become significantly lower than [...] Read more.

Utilizing a unique audit price deregulation policy in China, we examine industry-specialized auditors’ competing strategies in different markets. Our results from the difference-in-difference model reveal that after audit price deregulation, audit fees of industry-specialized auditors in less developed markets become significantly lower than other auditors. Furthermore, we find the decreased audit fees of the industry specialists are not due to the reduced audit effort, and the audit quality is not impaired. On the other hand, industry specialists cannot keep their audit fee premium in more developed markets after the policy. These results indicate that audit price deregulation makes industry-specialized auditors more available, which benefits the market’s sustainable development. Our study contributes significantly to the industry specialized auditor literature by providing novel evidence that industry specialists’ competing strategies could depend on the market’s development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Maritime Logistics and Sustainable Port Development)

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Jump to: Research

2 pages, 2085 KiB

Open AccessCorrection

Correction: Zhao et al. A New Synchronous Handling Technology of Double Stack Container Trains in Sea-Rail Intermodal Terminals. Sustainability 2022, 14, 11254

by Zhongbin Zhao, Xifu Wang, Suxin Cheng, Wei Liu and Lijun Jiang

Sustainability 2024, 16(3), 948; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16030948 - 23 Jan 2024

Viewed by 384

Abstract

The authors would like to make the following corrections to the published paper [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Maritime Logistics and Sustainable Port Development)

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