Comment: Tankers' modification economics: Is there an arbitrage?

In this paper we address the following question: how much is a ship-owner willing to pay in order to convert his single-hull vessel to a double-hull vessel? Our research is motivated by a recent article in Tradewinds, according to which owners have become reluctant in scrapping their vessels by turning them into double hull from single hull. We apply a structural no-arbitrage condition for deriving and estimating 'good-deal' bounds.     

和谐:积极突围

<正>2009年12月7日,联合国气候变化大会在哥本哈根召开。在此之前各国都为"低碳"动作频频,希望通过倡导发展"低碳经济"来提高自己的竞争力,航运业也加入到这场持久的"碳减排"中。当前,全球航运业一场没有硝烟的"绿色战役"已经打响,世界各国积极突围的现象给"不太平"的地球环境增添了一份"和谐"的希望。     

Steel product flows: works-to-port: an application of the 'transportation problem'

The pattern of landward flows of steel products between manufacturing works and ports in the United Kingdom used for export is examined, and the spatial implications of various levels of hypothetical rationalization in the distribution of port facilities discussed. While extreme spatial concentration of port facilities for handling general steels would seem both impracticable and undesirable, the analysis suggests that a greater degree of rationalization than at present could be achieved without increasing overall landward transport costs.     

“泰坦尼克”：百年之殇

百年之前，“泰坦尼克”号的沉没，拉开了国际社会空前重视航行安全的篇章。     

EDITORIAL: FINANCIAL CREATIVITY

This paper sets out the developments in world shipbuilding policy that have occurred in the past decade. It reviews and outlines the situation that existed in the late 1990s, when an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) agreement on the elimination of shipyard operating subsidies was tantalisingly close. After the Introduction, the second section provides a brief review of the development of the industry over the past three decades, setting the context for developments since 1997. The third section discusses the complaint of the European Union (EU) to the World Trade Organization (WTO) concerning the Republic of Korea's support for its shipbuilding sector, and its counterclaim over the EU's temporary defence mechanism (TDM). It is argued that the core of the EU's case at the WTO was flawed, and that the reintroduction of an operating subsidy via the TDM was a mistake. The only prospect for regularizing competition in this area lies in the negotiation of the OECD agreement that was completed, but not ratified, in 1994. Given the souring of relations between two of the main players in this area, the prospects for such a settlement seem remote. The fourth section uses Olson's theory of groups to argue that the European Commission's actions were driven primarily by industry pressure groups, and failed to consider the potential views of other European stakeholders, in particular the taxpayers. Given the failure of the EU's action at the WTO, the future direction of European shipbuilding policy will have to focus on strategies for internal development and improved industrial competitiveness.     

1978：起航!

我在离休前的上世纪70年代初至80年代末，从事水上集装箱运输工作。经历了水上集装箱运输的起步和发展阶段。其中，使我记忆最深的是，我国为开辟国际集装箱运输第一条班轮航线所做的紧张而繁重的筹备工作。当时我在交通部水运局港口处负责操作有关集装箱运输装卸事宜，所以筹备工作的大部分过程我都参与了。在这个艰难的创业历程中，曾在抗日战争和解放战争中立下赫赫战功的叶飞和彭德清两位部长为我国国际集装箱运输事业的起步发展所作的大量创造性工作，让我至今难以忘怀。     

Altimeter assimilation in the OCCAM global model: Part I: A twin experiment

An altimeter data assimilation scheme has been tested in the OCCAM (Ocean Circulation and Climate Advanced Modelling) global 1/4°, 36-level model using a twin experiment format. The Cooper and Haines displacement scheme is used. The method works well in most regions and depths. Currents and densities in the top 1000 m generally improve by over 50–70% after 5 months of sea level assimilation every 15 days. Below 1000 m, an error reduction of up to 50% is achieved. The errors remain low during a further 60-day run without assimilation. Diagnostics for the North Atlantic, the Tropical Pacific and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current are shown alongside the global averages.The main problems encountered were in weakly stratified regions of the Antarctic and Arctic seas. A scale selective filter is developed to avoid assimilating scales much larger than the local deformation radius, and this avoids the adverse assimilation effects in the southern oceans. A companion paper uses this scheme to assimilate TOPEX and ERS-1 altimeter maps.     

Workshop 6: The public agenda: What is working and what is missing

Workshop 6 topics covered social inclusion, the informal transport sector, transport in developing countries and sustainability. The strong connections and complimentary goals were noted, where solutions to social exclusion and greenhouse gas reduction can both be realised with good transport and urban planning. There is an opportunity for developing countries to avoid the transport mistakes in many developed countries, such as car dependence. This will involve the development of infrastructure that offers accessible public transport to the majority of people, providing resources to the informal transport system and integrating this with public transport. The workshop considered specific issues such as rural transport, new technology, car tolls to subsidise public transport, safety issues with informal transport and the failure to evaluate the longer-term impacts of many major transport infrastructure developments. Recommendations were made in relation to research and policy and future Thredbo topics.     

NIR不期而至

对于很多人来说,NIR仍然是一个比较陌生的术语。何为NIR?NIR即New Inspection Regime,是于2011年1月1日起正式运行的巴黎备忘录新的PSC检查机制。