Search Results (74)

Various activities, whether economic, social, or environmental, exert pressure on a coastal area. The extent of economic activities taking place in coastal regions is continuously increasing, particularly in tourism, maritime transport, port operations, and fisheries and aquaculture. Therefore, the decision to establish activities in a coastal area is complex and requires careful consideration by all stakeholders who use this space, which is potentially one of the most important natural resources for the development of any coastal country. This research is focused on assessing the justification for establishing economic activities in a coastal area, taking into account the interconnection of spatial, safety, environmental, and social factors. Therefore, three possible scenarios have been proposed: the location of the communal port, the location of the nautical port-marina, and the location of the marine entertainment and recreation centre. The goal was to develop a model that would enable the objective assessment and selection of the most suitable activity that would simultaneously benefit society and have the least harmful impact on the environment. Therefore, a multi-criteria analysis was conducted using the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) method. The decision-making process was based on the expert validation of criteria, sub-criteria, and alternatives. An analytical tool called Expert Choice was used to synthesise the results and select the optimal activity. The sensitivity analysis confirmed the stability and reliability of the obtained results, with the AHP method proving to be an effective tool in structuring the decision-making process regarding the establishment of activities in the coastal area. Based on the results of the multi-criteria assessment, planning the establishment of activities is an important precondition for the long-term and sustainable development of coastal activities in an area. Full article

Since the early 14th century, the Mediterranean coasts of the Crown of Aragon had mechanisms in place to alert populations of incoming threats from the sea. In addition to maritime surveillance systems strategically positioned at elevated vantage points, any information reaching the coast that posed a threat to the safety of the population or trade was swiftly relayed along the shoreline, ensuring that coastal communities could prepare and defend themselves. This information, preserved in the correspondence of coastal city authorities, serves today as a primary source not only for reconstructing maritime threats in the late Middle Ages but also for assessing the role of urban leaders in managing defence. This article explores both aspects. By analysing maritime alerts either received in the city of Barcelona or disseminated from it during the first half of the 15th century, this study examines the main threats to the Catalan coastline while emphasizing the central role of cities in managing the alert system. Full article

Interorganizational risk management (IRM) in Canadian ports faces significant challenges due to the interconnected nature of operations and the interdependence of safety, security, environmental, organizational, and technological risks. Existing siloed risk management frameworks often fail to capture these dynamic interrelations, underscoring the need for a more integrated, systemic approach. This study introduces a Port Risk Control Structure (PRCS) designed specifically for Canadian Port Authorities (CPAs), based on the Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP). The PRCS maps control actions, feedback loops, and stakeholder roles across international, national, and local levels to better reflect the layered nature of port governance. The model aims to clarify the roles of key actors, such as the International Maritime Organization, Transport Canada, and local port stakeholders, and is designed to facilitate more structured risk identification, communication, and coordination across organizational levels. Although the model has not yet been empirically validated, its design suggests strong potential for scalability and adaptability across diverse port contexts. This research contributes to IRM literature by illustrating how STAMP principles can be operationalized within port systems. Future research will focus on integrating a taxonomy of IRM challenges to refine control structures and feedback mechanisms in response to evolving risks. Full article

The water environment is a dynamic domain critical to global transportation and commerce, where seaplanes operate during take-offs, landings, and ground operations, often near maritime traffic. Canada’s vast remote regions and unique geography increase reliance on seaplanes, especially for private and recreational purposes. This article examines the intersection of aviation and maritime operations through a mixed-methods approach, analyzing seaplane safety on waterways using quantitative and qualitative methods. First, data from 1005 General Aviation (GA) seaplane accidents in Canada (1990–2022) are analyzed, revealing 179 fatalities, 401 injuries, and 118 destroyed aircraft—significant given that seaplanes comprise under 5% of GA aircraft. Of these, 50.35% occurred while the seaplane was not airborne. Second, insights from interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires involving 136 participants are explored through thematic and content analysis. These capture pilot concerns that are not evident in accident data, such as hazards from jet ski interactions and disruptive boat wakes. The findings highlight risks like limited visibility and maneuverability during waterborne take-offs, worsened by seaplanes’ lack of priority over maritime vessels in shared spaces. This article concludes with recommendations for both the seaplane and maritime communities, including increasing awareness among boaters about the presence and operations of seaplanes, as well as regulatory adjustments, particularly considering the right of way. Full article

The long-term sustainability of seaports depends on various operational factors, including infrastructure efficiency, digital innovation, environmental management, and regulatory compliance, among which maritime pilotage plays a crucial role in ensuring safe navigation and minimizing environmental, economic, and social risks. This research employed the PRISMA-ScR framework to evaluate the environmental, economic, and social impacts of pilotage on the sustainability of seaports. The findings demonstrate efficient navigation and spill avoidance, which reduce emissions, safeguard marine biodiversity, and maintain water quality. Economically, it reduces delays, optimizes operational expenses, and increases port competitiveness by increasing maritime traffic. Moreover, pilotage improves navigational safety, local professional skill development, and community interactions via ecological conservation and operational efficiency. It also indicates how environmental initiatives benefit the economy, increase port competitiveness, and promote job security and community happiness. The results also emphasize the significance of pilotage in sustainable seaport operations by quantifying pollution reductions, cost savings, and safety. The result also suggests that successful pilotage enhances ports’ viability and responsibility in global shipping networks while addressing environmental, economic, and social concerns. Full article

The maritime industry is undergoing a digital transformation, integrating automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enhance operational efficiency and safety. However, this technological evolution has also increased cybersecurity vulnerabilities, exposing vessels, ports, and maritime communication networks to sophisticated cyber threats. This systematic review, conducted following the PRISMA guidelines, examines the current landscape of AI-driven cybersecurity solutions in maritime environments. By analyzing peer-reviewed studies and industry reports, this review identifies key AI methodologies, including machine-learning-based intrusion detection systems, anomaly detection mechanisms, predictive threat modeling, and AI-enhanced zero-trust architectures. This study assesses the effectiveness of these techniques in mitigating cyber risks, explores their implementation challenges, and highlights existing research gaps. The findings indicate that AI-powered solutions significantly enhance real-time threat detection and response capabilities in maritime networks, yet issues such as data scarcity, regulatory constraints, and adversarial attacks on AI models remain unresolved. Future research directions should focus on integrating AI with blockchain, federated learning, and quantum cryptographic techniques to strengthen maritime cybersecurity frameworks. Full article

This paper presents a network-based bibliometric analysis of digital transformation in the shipping industry, a sector undergoing rapid change due to advancements in automation, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and Internet of Things. The study synthesizes existing knowledge to identify trends, challenges, and opportunities for industry stakeholders and researchers. Unlike previous literature reviews, this work adopts a graph theory approach applied to a large dataset of scientific publications, without predefined technological or industrial sub-domains. Data were collected from EBSCO, ProQuest, and IEEE eXplore, then refined using OpenAlex to comprise 2293 scientific publications. The analysis includes descriptive statistics, co-authorship network analysis, co-citation network analysis, and thematic analysis. The findings reveal a significant increase in publications since 2005, with exponential growth after 2015. They also suggest a potential inflection point after 2024. A small percentage of authors and institutions account for a disproportionate share of publications, suggesting a skewed distribution of research efforts and encouraging funding agencies to broaden maritime research worldwide. The co-authorship network exhibits a heavy-tail distribution and interconnected communities, indicating extensive national and international collaborations. The co-citation analysis identifies key research areas such as fuel consumption optimization, safety and risk management, and smart port development. Thematic analysis highlights the growing importance of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. Full article

The maritime transportation sector is undergoing a profound shift with the emergence of autonomous vessels powered by real-time artificial intelligence (AI) agents. This article investigates the pivotal role of these agents in enhancing the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of autonomous maritime systems. Following a structured literature review, we examine the architecture of real-time AI agents, including sensor integration, communication systems, and computational infrastructure. We distinguish maritime AI agents from conventional systems by emphasizing their specialized functions, real-time processing demands, and resilience in dynamic environments. Key safety mechanisms—such as collision avoidance, anomaly detection, emergency coordination, and fail-safe operations—are analyzed to demonstrate how AI agents contribute to operational reliability. The study also explores regulatory compliance, focusing on emission control, real-time monitoring, and data governance. Implementation challenges, including limited onboard computational power, legal and ethical constraints, and interoperability issues, are addressed with practical solutions such as edge AI and modular architectures. Finally, the article outlines future research directions involving smart port integration, scalable AI models, and emerging technologies like federated and explainable AI. This work highlights the transformative potential of AI agents in advancing autonomous maritime transportation. Full article

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) are the primary source of information for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) in the maritime sector; however, they are vulnerable to unintentional or deliberate interference, such as jamming, spoofing, or meaconing. The continuous monitoring of GNSS signals is crucial for vessels and mobile maritime platforms to ensure the integrity, availability, and accuracy of positioning and navigation services. This monitoring is essential for guaranteeing the safety and security of navigation and contributes to the accurate positioning of vessels and platforms involved in hydrographic and oceanographic research. This paper presents the implementation of a complex system for monitoring the quality of signals within the GNSS spectrum at the Maritime Hydrographic Directorate (MHD). The system provides real-time analysis of signal parameters from various GNSSs, enabling alerts in critical situations and generating statistics and reports. It comprises four permanent stations equipped with state-of-the-art GNSS receivers, which integrate a spectrum analyzer and store raw data for post-processing. The system also includes software for monitoring the GNSS spectrum, detecting interference events, and visualizing signal quality data. Implemented using a Docker-based platform to enable efficient management and distribution, the software architecture consists of a reverse proxy, message broker, front-end, authorization service, GNSS orchestrator, and GNSS monitoring module. This system enhances the quality of command, control, communications, and intelligence decisions for planning and execution. It has demonstrated a high success rate in detecting and localizing jamming and spoofing events, thereby improving maritime situational awareness and navigational safety. Future development could involve installing dedicated stations to locate interference sources. Full article

Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) have emerged as key enablers of autonomous maritime operations, offering innovative solutions across multiple industries, including defense, oceanography, offshore energy, and logistics. This review examines the current state of operative USVs, analyzing their technological evolution, design characteristics, and applications. The study highlights trends in autonomy, propulsion, endurance, and communication technologies, providing insights based on market-ready platforms. While USVs present significant advantages in terms of efficiency and operational safety, challenges such as regulatory constraints, cybersecurity risks, and limitations in autonomous decision-making persist. This paper aims to update researchers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders on the technological advancements and emerging trends shaping the future of unmanned vehicles. Full article

This explanatory empirical study aims to investigate the relationship and contribution of the prevailing trends and factors within the shipping industry related to the maritime communications and technology market. It is widely acknowledged that the maritime industry is currently experiencing a rapid transformation, primarily propelled by new safety and environmental regulations but also driven by the growing emphasis on operational efficiency. The ongoing technological advancements in the maritime communications and technology market have significantly transformed the industry, offering opportunities for innovation and efficiency gains. This paper examines key trends and factors in the shipping industry that are crucial for further boosting the maritime communications market’s expansion, thus growing both technologically and financially. From the results of our study, we conclude that the increase in the volume of international maritime trade and the volume of the global fleet are indicators that should be considered as incentives by the maritime communication and technology firms in order to provide additional solutions, thus gaining a competitive advantage and subsequently gaining market size against their competitors. On the other hand, the fluctuation of freight rates is not to be considered an indicator of shipping firms’ intention to purchase the new products and services of maritime technology; a reduction in freight rates and, subsequently, in available income is not a preventing factor for adopting and exploiting the benefits of new technological solutions. Full article

In recent years, the demand for maritime wireless communication has been increasing, particularly in areas such as ship operations management, marine resource utilization, and safety assurance. However, due to the difficulty of deploying base stations(BSs), maritime communication still faces challenges in terms of limited coverage and unreliable communication quality. As the number of users on ships and offshore platforms increases, along with the growing demand for mobile communication at sea, conventional terrestrial base stations struggle to provide stable connectivity. Therefore, existing maritime communication primarily relies on satellite communication and long-range Wi-Fi. However, these solutions still have limitations in terms of cost, stability, and communication efficiency. Satellite communication solutions, such as Starlink and Iridium, provide global coverage and high reliability, making them essential for deep-sea and offshore communication. However, these systems have high operational costs and limited bandwidth per user, making them impractical for cost-sensitive nearshore communication. Additionally, geostationary satellites suffer from high latency, while low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks require specialized and expensive terminals, increasing hardware costs and limiting compatibility with existing maritime communication systems. On the other hand, 5G-based maritime communication offers high data rates and low latency, but its infrastructure deployment is demanding, requiring offshore base stations, relay networks, and high-frequency mmWave (millimeter-wave) technology. The high costs of deployment and maintenance restrict the feasibility of 5G networks for large-scale nearshore environments. Furthermore, in dynamic maritime environments, maintaining stable backhaul connections presents a significant challenge. To address these issues, this paper proposes a low-cost nearshore wireless communication solution utilizing tethered balloons as coastal base stations. Unlike satellite communication, which relies on expensive global infrastructure, or 5G networks, which require extensive offshore base station deployment, the proposed method provides a more economical and flexible nearshore communication alternative. The tethered balloon is physically connected to the coast, ensuring stable power supply and data backhaul while providing wide-area coverage to support communication for ships and offshore platforms. Compared to short-range communication solutions, this method reduces operational costs while significantly improving communication efficiency, making it suitable for scenarios where global satellite coverage is unnecessary and 5G infrastructure is impractical. Additionally, conventional uniform power allocation or channel-gain-based amplification methods often fail to meet the communication demands of dynamic maritime environments. This paper introduces a nonlinear dynamic power allocation method based on channel gain information to maximize downlink communication efficiency. Simulation results demonstrate that, compared to conventional methods, the proposed approach significantly improves downlink communication performance, verifying its feasibility in achieving efficient and stable communication in nearshore environments. Full article

The remote monitoring of maritime signaling facilities is one of the marine navigation safety rules essential for ensuring global maritime traffic. Some maritime signaling facilities have not yet implemented remote monitoring systems. This challenge is posed by factors such as insufficient signal range, limited availability of electrical energy, or various economic reasons. Therefore, this paper reviews the current and relevant scientific literature on 10 communication technologies for maritime signaling facilities in the last two decades using PRISMA guidelines. PRISMA 2020 represents guidelines for conducting systematic review papers using mixed methods, including their applicability to various reviews. In addition, this paper analyzes the selection of the best-suited communication technology for communication between maritime signaling facilities. The results show that, initially, 214 papers met the specified criteria, and after applying the filtering, it was narrowed to 29 relevant papers for the research topic. Surprisingly, almost half of them were found in databases other than WOS, SCOPUS, and GOOGLE SCHOLAR. Also, LoRa WAN is the most energy-efficient and cost-effective option, with a consumption rate 2.14 times lower than AIS and NB-IoT. To summarize, it has been found that LoRa WAN represents the optimal communication technology for transmitting data from maritime signaling facilities across long distances. Full article

Maritime operations play a critical role in global trade but face persistent safety challenges due to human error, environmental factors, and operational complexities. This review explores the transformative potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) in enhancing maritime safety through improved communication, decision-making, and compliance. Specific applications include multilingual communication for international crews, automated reporting, interactive training, and real-time risk assessment. While LLMs offer innovative solutions, challenges such as data privacy, integration, and ethical considerations must be addressed. This review concludes with actionable recommendations and insights for leveraging LLMs to build safer and more resilient maritime systems. Full article

The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a popular topic in both industrial and academic research. IoT devices are often equipped with rapid response capabilities to ensure seamless communication and interoperability, showing significant potential for IoT-based maritime traffic monitoring and navigation safety tasks. However, this also presents major challenges for maritime surveillance systems. The diversity of IoT devices and variability in collected data are substantial. Visual image ship detection is crucial for maritime tasks, yet it must contend with environmental challenges such as haze and waves that can obscure ship details. To address these challenges, we propose an adaptive query selection transformer (AQSFormer) that utilizes two-dimensional rotational position encoding for absolute positioning and integrates relative positions into the self-attention mechanism to overcome insensitivity to the position. Additionally, the introduced deformable attention module focuses on ship edges, enhancing the feature space resolution. The adaptive query selection module ensures a high recall rate and a high end-to-end processing efficiency. Our method improves the mean average precision to 0.779 and achieves a processing speed of 31.3 frames per second, significantly enhancing both the real-time capabilities and accuracy, proving its effectiveness in ship detection. Full article