Freight forwarders speak: the Perception of Route Competition via Seaports in the European Communities Research Project. Part 1

This paper, in two parts, reports on the Perception of Route Competition via Seaports in the European Communities Research Project wherein a total of 72 interviews were held in 11 European countries. Respondents were also asked to fill in a questionnaire, and it is these questionnaire findings that are reported in this first part of the paper. These is a perhaps surprisingly widespread belief that frequency of shipping service is a main reason for choice of seaport in cargo movement. Time on the route and labour problems at ports are major concerns of freight forwarders whose minds are powerfully imbued with the spirit of free enterprise(absence of governmental or other planning agency intervention). Among other major conclusions are a preference for 'delivered price' consignments and the belief in the importance of port charges in route determination (see table 2 for summary of major conclusions).     

Transport decision-makers speak: the Seaport Development in the European Communities Research Project†—Part II

This paper, in two parts, reports on the Seaport Development in the European Communities Research Project wherein forty interviews with decision-makers were held in European seaports, and another forty were held with shipowning organizations. This part of the paper reports on analysis of the open-ended tape-recorded responses of the interviewees to six separate sets of propositions they were shown. The first major conclusion is that decision-makers in the ports and shipping industries have a great deal to offer in helping to shape future EC policies about seaports. The second is that these decision-makers on the whole agree with students of the subject, but outside the industries, that a step-by-step approach is possible towards a Common Seaports Policy. Indeed, without prompting, some respondents even confirmed a previously published suggestion for the first stage of this process—the necessity for an agreed standard basis for ports' accounts. It is believed that a small secretariat within the Brussels Commission could weld representatives of the industries into a working group which could make real progress by consulting their colleagues through interviews similar to those successfully conducted for this project.     

Transport decision-makers speak: the Seaport Development in the European Communities Research Project —Part II

This paper, in two parts, reports on the Seaport Development in the European Communities Research Project wherein forty interviews with decision-makers were held in European seaports, and another forty were held with shipowning organizations. This part of the paper reports on analysis of the open-ended tape-recorded responses of the interviewees to six separate sets of propositions they were shown. The first major conclusion is that decision-makers in the ports and shipping industries have a great deal to offer in helping to shape future EC policies about seaports. The second is that these decision-makers on the whole agree with students of the subject, but outside the industries, that a step-by-step approach is possible towards a Common Seaports Policy. Indeed, without prompting, some respondents even confirmed a previously published suggestion for the first stage of this process—the necessity for an agreed standard basis for ports' accounts. It is believed that a small secretariat within the Brussels Commission could weld representatives of the industries into a working group which could make real progress by consulting their colleagues through interviews similar to those successfully conducted for this project.     

Public goods and the public financing of major European seaports

Seaports are recognized for their importance in facilitating trade growth and associated economic development. These attributes often give rise to the notion that seaports, or infrastructure elements of seaports, are public goods. Public goods are regarded as goods or services which a market acting in isolation might have difficulty in providing, or at least providing in sufficient quantity and/or at a competitive price. An important element of a public good relates to its non-rival consumption, the implication being that it is impossible to exclude anyone, whether they pay or not. Key questions this paper seeks to address are, what constitutes public goods in seaports, to what extent is it necessary for the public sector to provide these goods, and can such intervention lead to market distortion in respect of competing ports? The paper describes the more common examples of public goods in seaports. This is followed by discussion of public and private sector investment at major north European seaports. The paper considers the potential for market distortion due to public sector expenditure on so-called public goods in seaports, and proposes that a more cohesive policy for major ports, particularly those very large containerports serving a common European hinterland, is necessary in order to deliver a sustainable transport system in the long term.     

Policy making and planning for the port sector: paradigms in conflict

Policy making is a complex and diverse process—particularly in relation to the provision and location of port and port related infrastructure. The planning stage of port infrastructure, or indeed transport planning more generally, may be finalized only to experience policy failure as implementation of the planned facility cannot be successfully completed. When this occurs planning and implementation failure is invariably perceived to be driven by a political agenda and it is argued that 'politics gets in the way'—that politics 'distorts' a scientifically rational planning process. Is it the case that politics 'gets in the way'? Or that politics distorts a technical and scientific process? Or is it the case that planning constitutes only one part, but an integral one, of the policy process—a process that is inherently political? And if that is the case, can we legitimately separate the planning process from that of policy making? This paper discusses the fundamental differences between the planning and policy-making processes. It argues that transport planning is one element in a broader process of policy making which incorporates political and other social/economic/environmental elements. It will argue that planning is a fundamental part of the policy-making process and, if successful completion is to be achieved, it cannot be divorced from that process. The paper will provide a conceptual framework which will incorporate these apparently conflictual activities. This model, if adopted, is likely to enhance both the planning and policy-making processes.     

超空泡航行体尾部滑行力实验研究

超空泡航行体尾部沾湿滑行水动力对其水下运动特性具有重要影响。本文建立了圆柱后体在空泡内动态摆动滑行力水洞实验方法,开展了圆柱后体静态不同攻角和动态不同摆动角速度滑行水动力测量实验,获得了不同工况下滑行面几何特性和滑行力特性,并基于实验数据提出了滑行升力估算的经验公式。与理论公式比较表明,滑行力随浸没角、浸没深度变化的规律一致,Hassan模型预估值比实验值大,Paryshev模型预估值比Hassan模型更大些。     

槽道型高速滑行艇船型的自动生成(英文)

The creation of geometric model of a ship to determine the characteristics of hydrostatic and hydrodynamic, and also for structural design and equipments arrangement are so important in the ship design process. Planning tunnel high speed craft is one of the crafts in which, achievement to their top speed is more important. These crafts with the use of tunnel have the aero-hydrodynamics properties to diminish the resistance, good sea-keeping behavior, reduce slamming and avoid porpoising. Because of the existence of the tunnel, the hull form generation of these crafts is more complex and difficult. In this paper, it has attempted to provide a method based on geometry creation guidelines and with an entry of the least control and hull form adjustment parameters, to generate automatically the hull form of planning tunnel craft. At first, the equations of mathematical model are described and subsequent, three different models generated based on present method are compared and analyzed. Obviously, the generated model has more application in the early stages of design.     

基于RRTConCon算法的船舶装配拆卸高斯采样路径规划

船舶舱室内的零部件在进行装配拆卸时,需要依据正确可行的路径进出装配体,通常采用路径规划的方法确定拆装路径。针对RRTConCon算法是采用随机采样的方法选取位姿点,在解决船舶舱室内狭窄通道的路径规划上效率不高的问题,提出了一种基于高斯采样的RRTConCon算法(RRTGaussion),采用高斯分布函数进行分区采样:在大的开阔区域设置较少的采样点,在复杂区域或狭窄通道设置较多的采样点,然后进行局部规划,找出拆装路径。通过在虚拟环境中对该算法进行仿真验证,结果表明,该算法在解决船舶舱室中狭窄通道的路径规划问题上效率高于RRTConCon算法。     

Waterfront redevelopment in Canadian port cities: some viewpoints on issues involved

This paper reports on a component of a research project on Canadian Dimensions of Waterfront Revitalization wherein forty-five interviews were held in Canadian port cities with port authority representatives, urban planners and developers. Respondents were asked to fill in a questionnaire, and the findings from this questionnaire survey are discussed in this paper. Anticipated contrasts between planning philosophies in different professions were largely but not invariably confirmed.     

无人艇智能航路规划系统研究

近年来,随着人工智能等高新技术的发展,无人平台的发展日新月异,以无人水面艇为代表的无人平台受到国内外专家学者越来越多的关注。其中航路规划系统是实现无人艇正常航行和体现无人艇智能化的关键技术之一。目前大多数航路规划算法适用的场景主要为无人艇的自由航行,避碰能力单一,且未充分考虑无人艇自身欠驱动型以及机动能力的限制,很难满足复杂障碍环境下智能避碰的需求。本文设计基于分层规划的航路规划方案,提出多单元模块下的无人艇航路规划策略,并基于无人艇自身特性设计对应的轨迹规划单元。最后在GIS数据上,对所设计的智能航路规划系统进行仿真验证,实验结果验证系统的有效性和实用性。     

Port Decision Maker Perceptions on the Effectiveness of Climate Adaptation Actions

Effective adaptation to climate change impacts is rapidly becoming an important research topic. Hitherto, the perceptions and attitudes of stakeholders on climate adaptation actions are under researched, partly due to the emphasis on physical and engineering aspects during the adaptation planning process. Building on such considerations, the paper explores the perceptions of port decision makers on the effectiveness of climate adaptation actions. The findings suggest that while port decision makers are aware of potential climate change impacts and feel that more adaptation actions should be undertaken, they are skeptical about their effectiveness and value. This is complemented by a regional analysis on the results, suggesting that more tailor-made adaptation measures suited to local circumstances should be developed. The study illustrates the complexity of climate adaptation planning and of involving port decision makers under the current planning paradigm.     

The competitiveness of short sea shipping in multimodal logistics supply chains: service attributes

Much has been written and spoken about short sea shipping within the European Union (EU) as a means of shifting goods from road to sea and of achieving a sustainable economic development. However, this shift is far from being a general reality, despite the few individual, and success stories that have taken place and the EUROSTAT data suggest that the overall effort has contributed very little towards attaining this desired shift. In the light of this, research was conducted to discover how to put short sea shipping on a more competitive level within European multimodal logistics supply chains. This paper aims at identifying service attributes of short sea shipping operations within multimodal transport chains by means of a questionnaire and, for that, examines the short sea shipping environment and contemporary European logistics trends. The analysis is based on empirical research, involving logistics operators, shippers' associations and intermodal rail operators, and allows an evaluation (based on statistical techniques) of the short sea shipping industry and its competitors. It extends previous work by considering these short sea shipping attributes within a multimodal transport context.     

Incentives to reduce port inefficiency: a theoretical approach

Over the last decades, the European Union (EU) has devoted a large amount of effort and money to projects aimed at boosting some of its maritime corridors as a modal alternative to road or rail freight transport. However, the overall design of most of these programmes has ex post revealed as very ineffective. This paper suggests that promoting port efficiency might be a more suitable target to increase the modal split of Short Sea Shipping (SSS) than subsidizing firms to transfer cargo from road to sea. But defining ‘port efficiency’ is a complex task and, therefore, granting money directly to port authorities could also generate perverse moral hazard effects, particularly when the improvements are difficult to monitor and many investments are non-refundable. The European Court of Auditors points out that millions of EU public port finance was wasted on empty terminal and other unused infrastructure. The objective of this paper is to design a proper subsidy to promote SSS by encouraging port improvements through a proper system of incentives. As a policy recommendation, in this paper we propose the development of a subsidy per inefficiency-reduction unit.     

Maritime interests in the EU policy-making: Structures,practices, and governability of collective action

Throughout Europe, a number of maritime interests have re-targeted their lobbying structures and strategies aiming to influence the development of the maritime related European Union (EU) policies. The paper examines these maritime interests’ mobilisation in the making of the Common EU Maritime Transport Policy (CMTP). First, it provides a review of the role of these interest groups and the implications of the observed collective interests’ representation. Then, with the contribution a data-set of replies to a questionnaire distributed to all the interest groups that are involved in EU maritime affairs, the paper analyses the variety of interest groups representing the maritime sector in EU affairs. The focus is on the structures (i.e. membership numbers and types, location, internal structures, budget) and the lobbying practices of the 37 identified EU level maritime related organisations. The paper also presents an evaluation of the most positive and most negative parameters of the ‘EU environment’ and the ‘economic environment’ that assist, or undermine, the governability cohesiveness of this collective action. This study provides information on whether and under what conditions maritime interests are able to form comprehensive EU-level organisations capable of representing their members and their interests in the EU policy making process     

双断级滑行艇阻力性能优化方法

阻力性能是双断级滑行艇水动力性能最为重要的内容之一,本文提出一种基于CFD模拟的优化方法,结合艇底斜升角、断级高度、断级总长等因素对某双断级滑行艇进行了静水阻力优化及试验验证。结果表明:CFD计算值与模型试验结果吻合度较高,各因素对艇体阻力均有较为明显的影响,断级高度和断级总长的增大一定程度地增强了双断级滑行艇的滑行效率。优化研究实现了双断级滑行艇阻力系数R/▽低于0.25的技术指标,验证了基于CFD的优化方法的可靠性。     

Recent aspects of the EU maritime transport policy. A comment on the paper by Theo Kiriazidiz and George Tzanidakis

This paper provides a commentary on the paper by Kiriazidis and Tzanidakis which examined a very significant area of policy relating to the European Union and the Maritime sector. Whilst providing a stimulus for discussion, their paper leaves out far more from the policy framework, than it includes and as such contributes little to the broader debate.     

Placing dryports. Port regionalization as a planning challenge - The case of Hamburg, Germany, and the Süderelbe

This paper emphasizes dryports in the context of port regionalization. It specifically deals with dryports as a challenge for planning, policy and metropolitan governance in the vicinity of seaports. The starting point is the ongoing spatial shift of terminals, distribution centres and port related developments towards the hinterland of mainports and the associated planning conflicts, raising negative impacts such as congestion, land consumption, land use conflicts and neighbourhood conflicts. The paper discusses these challenges against the empirical case of the Süderelbe-region in the Southern hinterland of the port of Hamburg, Germany. It focuses on the often neglected yet highly controversial issue of land use and related traffic flows. Further it reveals how these conflicts are being managed at the regional level. The main contention of the paper is that port regionalization triggers substantial planning conflicts different from those that are known from core port areas, due to the associated demand for land and infrastructure and also as a result of the often poorly developed institutional framework to solve these problems.     

Fleet deployment in liner shipping: a case study

The fleet deployment problem is an important planning problem in liner shipping. It deals with optimally assigning voyages to available vessels in the fleet and determining vessel routes and schedules in a way that minimizes costs or maximizes profit. This paper presents a new model for a fleet deployment problem in liner shipping, and we also propose a multi-start local search heuristic to solve the problem. The heuristic has been embedded in a prototype decision support system (DSS) that has been implemented and tested at Höegh Autoliners, a major global provider of ro-ro (roll-on roll-off) vehicle transportation services. The heuristic was able to produce high-quality solutions within a few minutes to a real planning problem with more than 55 vessels and 150 voyages over a planning horizon of 4–6 months. Tests indicated that the solutions suggested by the DSS gave between 2 and 10% improvements compared with solutions from manual planning. What is almost equally important is that using the DSS can ease the planning process.     

Strategic fleet size planning for maritime refrigerated containers

In the present economic climate, it is often the case that profits can only be improved, or for that matter maintained, by improving efficiency and cutting costs. This is particularly notorious in the shipping business, where it has been seen that the competition is getting tougher among carriers, thus alliances and partnerships are resulting for cost effective services in recent years. In this scenario, effective planning methods are important not only for strategic but also operating tasks, covering their entire transportation systems. Container fleet size planning is an important part of the strategy of any shipping line. This paper addresses the problem of fleet size planning for refrigerated containers, to achieve cost-effective services in a competitive maritime shipping market. An analytical model is first discussed to determine the optimal size of an own dry container fleet. Then, this is extended for an own refrigerated container fleet, which is the case when an extremely unbalanced trade represents one of the major investment decisions to be taken by liner operators. Next, a simulation model is developed for fleet sizing in a more practical situation and, by using this, various scenarios are analysed to determine the most convenient composition of refrigerated fleet between own and leased containers for the transpacific cargo trade.