Ship productivity as a measure of maritime performance

Ship and fleet productivity have been discussed increasingly as performance measures in recent years, but productivity has not been defined precisely as it relates to the maritime industry. This article offers definitions from some key terms that can clarify the concept of productivity and thus make it more usable as an analytical tool for steamship management.     

Ship productivity as a measure of maritime performance

Ship and fleet productivity have been discussed increasingly as performance measures in recent years, but productivity has not been defined precisely as it relates to the maritime industry. This article offers definitions from some key terms that can clarify the concept of productivity and thus make it more usable as an analytical tool for steamship management.     

Assessing financial impact of maritime ergonomics on company level: a case study

The present paper reports a case study examining a conceptual framework for assessing financial impact of occupational maritime ergonomics in a Swedish shipping company. Specifically, the aim was to study the availability and applicability of suggested determinants for operational performance, routines for estimating the effects of ergonomics and the customer’s (sea transport buyer’s) demands for ergonomics management on the case company. The results show that the determinants and subcategories for operational performance in terms of productivity, efficiency and quality are present and applicable, albeit not measured to any large extent. No routines or specific methods for measuring or estimating cost and effects of ergonomics investments, accidents and operational disturbances were found. Further, the results show that the sea transport buyers increasingly express interest for and place demands related to maritime ergonomics, for instance, through compliance of specific standards and guiding principles linked to maritime ergonomics. It is concluded that in order to support and enable managers’ ability to make well-informed decisions and prioritizations, between investments, ergonomic or other, increased knowledge is needed of the financial effects of ergonomics on company core value processes. There is also a need to develop and implement usable tools to simplify these measuring procedures.     

关于船员劳务合同中优先权问题的探讨

针对船员劳务合同中优先权问题进行了探讨,指出在船员与船舶所有人没有劳动合同的情况下,船员仍对劳动报酬享有船舶优先权;船员劳动服务机构就船员工资及船员人身伤亡不享有船舶优先权。     

Cargo handling productivity. Part 2. The findings

This is the second of two papers on cargo handling productivity presenting the results of the model developed int he first [1] which had been designed to test a productivity measurement method with cross-sectional empirical data. Four productivity measures were employed. Two related cargo handling to time, with labour brought into the analysis as an independent variable. The third productivity measure expressed total throughput as an aspect of labour productivity, while the final measure was a full productivity index developed by relating output to both capital and labour.

The productivity measurement technique demonstrated that this method can be used for cross-sectional studies and can cope with and allow for variation in non-controllable extraneous factors, thus proving useful for policy decision-makers in shipping lines and/or port authorities.

This paper presents the results of the prodictivity analysis for which the analytical design was decribed in Part 1. The first section briefly restates the productivity indices developed. The principal results and tests on these measures are present in Section 2 with conclusion following in Section 3.     

谈海事行政处罚中的自由裁量权

自由裁量权在海事行政处罚中的运用十分广泛,对海事行政处罚的合理性有着十分重大的影响,本文对自由裁量权在海事行政处罚中的利弊进行分析,并提出了相应的对策。     

论海难形式的区分和界定

海难是承运人对货损主张免责最常引用的抗辩,共有3种形式,本文分别予以区分和界定,并对其构成的基础加以分析,认为船舶适航是构成海难的前提。     

沪通铁路长江大桥水域通航环境综合风险评价研究

通过对影响桥梁水域通航环境的因素综合分析,构建出桥梁水域通航风险评价指标体系,以模糊理论为基础,采用层次分析法(AHP)建立了桥梁水域通航环境综合风险评价模型,并利用该方法对沪通铁路长江大桥水域通航环境进行综合风险评价。通过综合风险评价的结果,可以充分掌握沪通铁路长江大桥水域通航环境的危险程度以及各项指标因素的危险状况,为海事管理部门改善桥梁水域的通航环境及通航管理提供科学的决策依据和参考。     

浅议海事行政处罚中的地域管辖

对海事违法行为实施行政处罚,“由违法行为发现地所在管辖区的海事机构管辖”可使调查、取证、处理的效率与结果得以充分保证,这一地域管辖原则更符合海事行政处罚的实际情况和特点。     

论海事担保制度中海事法院的职权

讨论了海事法院在海事担保中的职权问题,并在此基础上对海事法院因行使该职权给当事人造成损失的法律责任做了分析,提出法院应尽量减少职权的介入,给予当事人合理行使权力的自由。     

海商法的统一化——现状、问题与对策

海商法是随着航海贸易的发展而产生和完善起来的。它的国际性决定了其发展呈现一个总的趋势和原则——海商法的统一化。以国际公约、国际惯例、示范规则等形式表现的国际统一海商法在具有全方位、多领域、内容前瞻性等特点的同时,也存在大统一、小分散、法律冲突仍旧突出等问题。采用“默示承诺程序”,充分发挥海事国际组织的规范协调作用、利用统一冲突法等对策可以弥补缺陷。     

Maritime education factors and presenteeism: a comparative quantitative study

Presenteeism research has only recently extended from a construct capturing lost productivity due to attending work despite health issues to a construct representing students’ perceived academic performance. Aligning with presenteeism’s prevalent research paradigm, the pioneering studies used health-related issues to measure presenteeism. In contrast, this study used the Presenteeism and Perceived Academic Performance (PPAP) Scale, which the researcher developed for this study. The PPAP Scale comprises aspects of student behavior that support academic performance. This study filled gaps in the literature by investigating presenteeism as a concept associated with students’ perceived academic performance, measured with the PPAP Scale, and factors specific to maritime education. The factors investigated were self-identified by the study respondents, in sufficient numbers to support statistical analysis, as favorably (i.e., cruise and license/maritime instruction) or negatively (i.e., mandatory regimental activity, taps, morning or afternoon formations, and watch) impacting their academic performance. This study found no statistical evidence to suggest the level of presenteeism, measured with the PPAP Scale, among the study’s sample of license students is associated with factors perceived to favorably or negatively impact academic performance. Additional insight can be gained from license student participants’ responses to the study’s open-ended questions (e.g., a perceived imbalance between time available to allocate to their academics and time needed to fulfill regimental responsibilities).     

Introduction to the special issue on maritime security

The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 heightened awareness about the vulnerability of all modes of transportation to terrorist attack. The issue of maritime security has therefore become a major concern in the international maritime sector over the past several years. Globalization has led to a strong growth in seaborne trade; however, it simultaneously increases vulnerability to not only terrorism but also international criminal activities that threaten the world's supply chain. For example, in 2008, the rise in piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden brought the issue of maritime security to the forefront of international debate. In addition to the direct impact on ships, crews and cargoes, and on the maritime industry and governments, piracy also threatens global seaborne trade, and has an impact on energy security and the environment [UNCTAD, 2009, Review of Maritime Transport 2009 (New York: United Nations)]. Maritime piracy can pose substantial risks to seaborne trades, with considerable commodities, ranging between raw materials and energy to high-value manufactured products, being shipped between global economic powerhouses [FU, X. W., NG, A. K. Y., LAU, Y. Y., forthcoming, The impacts of maritime piracy on global economic development: The case of Somalia. Maritime Policy and Management]. Maritime security management, including the definition of security, maritime risk assessment, security measures, the regulation and policy of maritime security in shipping and port-related business operations has been receiving growing attention, both in practice and research.     

Labour relations and the transfer of the Panama Canal[1]

The international maritime community is concerned about Panama's preparedness to undertake the responsibility of what many consider to be the world's greatest maritime asset, the Panama Canal. In accordance with treaty provisions, the longer within the dominion of the U.S. government and its attendant regulatory framework and policies. To a great extent, Panama's efforts to prepare for the transfer thus far have been driven by its objective of a seamless transfer, whereby the status quo (meaning the Canal's existing institutional and organizational framework and attendant policies and procedures) would be preserved as much as possible. This would assure the maritime community that it can expect the same service and cost standards traditionally enjoyed under the Panama Canal Commission's stewardship. Still of great concern, however, is the continued reliability and productivity of the Canal's labour force; the Canal's reliability and efficient performance in the past is often attributed to its history of harmonious labour management relations. This article addresses some of the critical labour relations issues that will need to be considered even if Panama's status quo objective for the transfer is achieved.     

The growth and patterns of international trade

Over the last 40 years, there has been an unprecedented growth in trade amongst countries, and the growth in trade shows no sign of slowing down. The increases in trade have put tremendous pressure on the maritime and port industries, and these industries have responded with innovations, investment, and greater productivity. International trade and maritime trade are synonyms, and an understanding of the determinants of international trade is central to understanding maritime trade. In this paper, we provide a review of the international trade literature with a focus on the determinants of trade and the evolution of trade modeling. We then present a broad overview of the extent and growth of trade in the context of primary determinants. The basic results are: (1) Trade is growing at a phenomenal rate; (2) Trade is dominated by relatively few countries who tend to remain dominant; (3) While trade of all products is growing, there are large differences in the growth rates, but yet, there is stability in the relative sizes of product markets; and (4) Over the last 40 years, trade has changed from major flows between the US and Europe to major flows between Asia and the US.     

Rethinking maritime privatization in Africa

While recognizing the need for increased participation of the private sector in the maritime industry of developing countries, there is a need to go beyond the call for privatization in terms of mere change of ownership from state to private sector as the only solution to the inefficiency of the maritime industry in developing countries. This limited understanding of the maritime problems of these countries abounds in the literature on maritime privatization. This study departs from this approach and focuses on the political economy of the maritime industry, and suggests that maritime privatization will not necessarily result in increased efficiency of the divested maritime enterprises. Rather, it argues that maritime problems in these countries have less to do with ownership than with the structural constraints in world shipping together with internal management and local ~olitics. The maritime industrv in West and Central Africa is used as a case studv. and recommendations such as selective privatization, 'programme contract', and most importantly, corporatization, are suggested as alternative strategies that could enhance maritime privatization and the development of the maritime industry in developing countries.     

Consistency in the development of performance assessment methods in the maritime domain

The maritime industry is considered to be a backbone of the global economy. It is therefore imperative to ensure that maritime operations run safely and efficiently. Assessment of maritime performance is necessary for designers and engineers to be able to pinpoint the weakest links in the system and make impactful system improvements. The current article presents a systematic quantitative literature review of research on performance assessment in the maritime industry with the goal of establishing an understanding of accuracy and consistency in the development of methods used to assess performance. The review focuses on four major segments within the industry—port logistics, ship handling, safety and environmental research—and investigates their uses in developing accurate and consistent performance assessment methods. After the completion of an exclusion process, 62 articles published in a wide range of academic journals were used in the analysis. Two important conclusions were drawn from the analysis. First, performance assessment is generally consistent throughout the maritime industry; most papers used accurate and consistent approaches to develop the methods (n?=?43). A subsequent bivariate analysis revealed a call for increased attention to the development of assessment methods within the maritime segment of ship handling. The current study suggests and discusses certain directions with regard to assessment research in the maritime industry.     

基于SEEMP的船舶营运能效评价指数的开发及应用:韩国某案例研究（英文）

The CO_2 emission reduction policy of the International Maritime Organization(IMO) recommends that the operation of ships,managed by maritime transport companies, should be energy-efficient. An evaluation method that can determine how successfully a ship implements the energy efficiency plan is proposed in this study. To develop this method, the measures required for energy-efficient ship operations according to the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan(SEEMP) operational guidelines were selected. The weights of the selected measures, which indicate how they contribute to the energy-efficient operation of a ship, were derived using a survey based on the analytic hierarchy process(AHP) method. Consequently, using these measures and their weights, a new evaluation method was proposed. This evaluation method was applied to shipping companies in South Korea, and their ship operation energy efficiency indices were derived and compared. This evaluation method will be useful to the government and shipping companies in assessing the energy efficiency of ship operations.     

Employability skills of maritime business graduates: industry perspectives

The maritime industry underpins international business and world trade. As to be expected, business management is critical for the maritime industry, requiring highly trained individuals and teams to lead the development, implementation and control of sound contemporary management practices. Maritime business degrees are developed by universities to meet such demand by providing graduates with sufficient skills for the onshore business-related roles. This empirical study conducted in Australia, USA and Canada, investigates current and future industry employability skills for maritime business graduates through focus groups, individual interviews and an online survey with senior managers in maritime organisations. This study found the important employability skills for maritime business graduates which include communication, problem solving, adaptability, self-management, team work, and digital literacy and technology. Demand for digital literacy and technology knowledge and skills have increased due to the maritime industry having a trend of moving towards digitalisation and automation. However, the survey findings revealed that a skills focus for maritime business graduates will not be the technology itself but the use and management of technology. In relation to future skills/knowledge required from maritime business degree graduates in 10 years’ time, communication and adaptability are recognised as being the most important. Employers expect that maritime business graduates should be able to adopt new technology and be competent in communication, and be more adaptable given the highly dynamic nature of the maritime industry. Moreover, they require graduates to be equipped with a higher level of computer skills, have a strong work ethic and multilingual skills.