Arctic routing: Challenges and opportunities

Responding to the world’s growing demand for oil and gas, Arctic resources have been given much attention by the energy and shipping industries. In addition, global warming has accelerated oil and gas development in the Arctic, particularly in its western region. Ice-diminishing Arctic has inspired the world’s shipping industry to explore the feasibility of the historical Arctic routes, the Northwest Passage and Northern Sea Route, as seasonal commercial sea lanes. The background aspects of the Passages and the main issues to be solved for their commercial openings are discussed in this paper. Challenges to an internationally agreeable Arctic regime, likely the Antarctic Treaty, are crucial for clean production and safe transport of the Arctic resources and the transit passages across the Arctic Ocean.     

Compensation issues under the Bunkers Convention

Oil tankers are not the only vessels that cause oil pollution damage at sea. Numerous spills at sea have been of heavy fuel oil from non-tankers. The international system of civil liability and compensation established after the Torrey Canyon incident covers only oil pollution damage caused by oil tankers. There was thus a need to bring the law on marine oil pollution up-to-date by extending liability and compensation to all sea-going vessels. In March 2001, the Bunkers Convention was adopted at a Diplomatic Conference at the IMO; it has not yet come into force. This paper focuses on the discussion of compensation issues under the Bunkers Convention. It analyses the relevant provisions, the impacts of components such as compulsory insurance on the availability of compensation under the Bunkers Convention. Suggestions on other compensation sources are also given in this paper.     

Ports in Proximity – Competition and Coordination among Adjacent Seaports,edited by Theo Notteboom,Cesar Ducruet,and Peter de Langen

The summer minimum extent of Arctic sea ice shrank drastically in these years, and the opportunity on Arctic international shipping emerged. The Northern Sea Route (NSR), formerly blocked by permanent ice, was completely ice-free in September in the past 3 years. Because this route is much shorter than conventional Asia–Europe shipping lane, many maritime countries have paid attention to exploit the enormous potential of the Arctic Ocean from economical consideration. This study measured the economical advantage of the seasonal NSR by calculating the shipping cost saved.     

Climate change and the prospects of increased navigation in the Canadian Arctic

There is wide recognition that the process of climate change may be affecting the Arctic region at a faster pace than other regions. What is uncertain is the full impact of climate change on ice cover, and in particular whether there will be a significant decrease of summer ice from the current three months to a longer period and accompanied by navigation conditions suitable and safe for commercial shipping. New international navigation routes through the Canadian and Russian Arctic sectors could significantly reduce the length of sea voyages from Asia to North America and Europe. However, on the basis of what is known to date, there are significant differences of view as to the feasibility of international commercial navigation in the Northwest Passage.     

The international regime of compensation for oil pollution damage and the policy of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds as to the admissibility of claims

This article describes the international regime governing compensation for oil pollution damage from ships. It sets out the main features of the relevant international Conventions, the Civil Liability Conventions and the Fund Conventions, and explains the operations of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds, their structure and financing. The procedure for settlement of compensation of claims is outlined and a summary is made of the criteria for the admissibility of claims for compensation. The ongoing review of the international compensation regime is described.     

The limited scope of seaborne cargo liability regime: new political–economic environments in the 21st century

ABSTRACT

Since the 1920s, seaborne cargo liability regimes have introduced a small number of mandatory rules into international carriage of goods by sea, through the Hague–Visby Rules, to restrict freedom of contract. These rules worked within a limited scope to offset imperfect competition in the shipping markets. However, the recent Hamburg and Rotterdam Rules attempted to extend this scope of seaborne cargo liability regime, which seems to be more extensive than is desirable. This article compares and examines the shipping sub-sectors’ environment and maritime economics over the past century up to date. The new business patterns of the shipping sub-sectors, the rising influence of developing countries, and the containerisation are creating new shipping environments for this area of law. Compared with previous decades, imperfect competition is only found in a smaller number of areas within the shipping markets nowadays. This article argues that only a limited scope of application is needed for international seaborne cargo liability regime. Thus, these new economic and political realities call for innovative modifications to the recent rules regarding the scope of application, and future regime should refocus international uniformity on a limited scope.     

The melting Arctic and its impact on China’s maritime transport

The shrinking of Arctic ice triggers off a new round of competition and dispute in this region, among traditional Arctic states and non-Arctic actors. Like its East Asia neighbours, China sees the melting Arctic Ocean a unique opportunity for itself and international trade generally. The changing physical landscape of the Arctic region will certainly have a major impact on China’s economic future which is very dependent on international shipping. This paper assesses the impact of the ice-free Arctic on the development of marine transport industry in China. The author discusses the potential new routes with the Arctic’s melting and the opportunities that it brings to China’s maritime transportation industry. Challenges that China faces in future shipping through the Arctic will be also addressed from political, legal, economic and environmental dimensions, followed by a preliminary exploration of ways to solution of these challenges.     

幕后力量──船东互保协会与海难救助制度的发展

随着海难救助制度的发展,如何鼓励救助人积极救助遇难船舶和减少环境污染,已经成为国际海事法中急需解决的问题。船东互保协会作为船东的责任保险人,促进了国际救助公约和劳氏救助合同的不断完善,日益参与到救助活动之中,并扮演着越来越重要的角色。     

Economic feasibility of an NSR/SCR-combined container service on the Asia-Europe lane: a new approach dynamically considering sea ice extent

The trend towards global warming and the rapid decline in the extent of summer Arctic sea ice over recent years has increased the feasibility of international Arctic shipping. In this study we propose a seasonal NSR (North Sea Route)/SCR (Suez Canal Route)-combined shipping service linking Shanghai and Rotterdam, using the Northern Sea Route during the economical navigable window but using the traditional Suez Canal Route at other times. Different from the previous literatures, this paper dynamically considers the sea ice extent in the model, which is more reasonable for the assessment of Arctic container shipping, because fuel consumption is highly related to ship speed, while ship speed is determined by the relative distances of ice-covered and ice-free route stages. A new approach is developed to predict the time points at which the ship enters and exits the ice-covered stage, given that both the ship position and the extent of sea ice are constantly changing. The results show that the NSR/SCR-combined Arctic container service can be more economical than the SCR, given lower NSR tariffs.     

我国船舶油污染损害赔偿机制的初探

随着我国社会的发展,特别是加入WTO后,贸易的频繁,通过海洋(包括入海开放河流)的货物运输量不断增加,在中国水域范围内的突发性严重船舶溢油事故因此也不断发生,给水域环境造成严重污染和国家财产造成重大损失。本文结合工作实际及当前国际公约和国内损害赔偿有关法律法规,分析了我国目前船舶油污染损害赔偿方面存在的问题,提出海事管理机构应在船舶污染损害赔偿中发挥重要作用,提出建立完善的油污损害赔偿机制等相关建议。     

海上溢油收集装置概念设计

随着海洋石油开采和运输事业的日益发展,海上溢油问题的研究越来越受到重视,具有重要的理论价值和实际意义.论文针对各类海上溢油事故,在现有技术的基础上进行突破和创新,提出了三套新概念的海上溢油处理装置,热气球海上浮油收集装置、海上铲车浮油收集器和下潜式浮油收集器,分别利用漩涡原理,面面接触的物理方式和生物环保技术,有效提高海上溢油的收集效率,丰富了溢油处理装置的设计理念,为后续的详细设计奠定了基础.     

International regulation of liability for multimodal transport

The establishment of a widely acceptable uniform international legal framework for multimodal transport has proven to be extremely difficult. In spite of attempts by various international organizations, following the advent of container revolution, there is still no uniform international legal regime in force to govern liability for loss, damage or delay arising from multimodal transportation. In 2002 the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) embarked on the elaboration of a draft instrument to cover contracts for the international carriage of goods. The Draft Instrument, which had been prepared to govern sea transport, is proposed also to cover multimodal transport involving a sea leg.     

原油转驳船海上作业定位能力需求分析（英文）

In response to the development of deep-sea oil and gas resources, which require a high degree of cooperation by crude oil transportation equipment, a new type of ship known as the cargo transfer vessel(CTV) has been developed. To provide a theoretical reference for the design and equipment of the CTV's dynamic positioning system, in this paper, we take the new deepwater CTV as the study object and theoretically and numerically analyze its operation, wind load, current load, wave load,and navigational resistance in a range of Brazilian sea conditions with respect to its positioning and towing modes. We confirm that our proposed method can successfully calculate the total environmental load of the CTV and that the CTV is able to operate normally under the designed sea conditions.     

Multimodal transport in the new millennium

Consignors of goods in international trade want their containers to move door to door whether by land, sea or air — smoothly, seamlessly and at predictable cost. What they actually get from the law is at best a jerky roller coaster: a series of contracts, one for each mode or stage of the journey, contracts with various people and with liability that varies too. All agree that the law should change but attempts to agree on an entirely new multimodal regime have failed. Recently attempts have been not to start again but to expand an existing and established regime. The latest of these, the UNCITRAL draft, is essentially maritime: it applies to the sea phase but and goes further to apply door to door except when its path is blocked by compulsory unimodal law. Has Venus at last arisen from the waves? And what will happen when Beauty meets the Beast in the form of CMR? This article addresses the problems that will be encountered by an ambitious amphibious instrument of this kind. — problems of integration, of compatibility with local legal culture, and of methodology.     

Arctic shipping scenarios and coastal state challenges

The Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum of the eight Arctic states, is currently embarked on a comprehensive assessment of Arctic marine activity in the 21^st century — the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA). One of the challenges for theAMSA study team has been to identify the major uncertainties that will be central to shaping the future of Arctic marine use in 2020 and 2050. Using scenario planning, AMSA has identified two primary drivers and uncertainties: (A) Resources and trade; and, (B) Governance. Four scenario narratives have been developed with these two, key uncertainties as the framework elements. The main arguments focus on the fact the Arctic has experienced globalization early in the century and that the global maritime industry has already ventured into the Arctic Ocean. Marine access in the Arctic Ocean is also changing in unprecedented ways and the extraordinary transformation Arctic sea ice is undergoing — thinning, extent reduction, and a reduction in the area of multiyear ice in the central ocean — has significant implications for longer seasons of navigation. However, the high prices of global commodities such as oil, gas, and hard minerals (for example, copper, nickel and zinc) have generated high levels of demand for Arctic natural resources. The Arctic states are challenged by an overall lack of maritime infrastructure to adequately support current and future levels of Arctic marine operations; ports, communications, environmental monitoring, search & rescue, incident response, aids to navigation, and coastal charting, to name a few, require substantial and timely investment by the coastal states and marine operators. A second challenge is the ongoing development of an integrated system of rules and regulations governing Arctic navigation that will enhance marine safety and ensure marine environmental protection throughout the basin. These challenges will require historic levels of cooperation among the Arctic states and broad engagement with the many, non-Arctic stakeholders and actors within the global maritime industry.     

新概念FPSO总体方案设计研究

在分析国内外现有FPSO的优劣性及研究影响FPSO性能的诸多因素的基础上,开发一种稳性更好、水动力性能优良、储油效率高、具有较大承载能力和甲板面积,更适合采用多点系泊的圆角倒棱台形FPSO(IQFP)浮体概念。利用这种新型概念,根据渤海海域某边际油田的海洋环境条件和油田生产要求,以浮体的稳性和运动性能为主要约束条件,运用交互式设计流程思想,经过反复调整,得到一座较优的IQFP总体方案设计实例。     

一种新型船舶排油监控系统的研究

为解决当今世界船舶排油污水造成海洋环境污染并大量消耗石油能源的问题,根据相关法规探讨了船舶排油污染的现状,分析现有主流排油监控系统的不足之处,在此基础上改进和设计出一种新型的船舶排油监控系统．介绍新型船舶排油监控系统运行前的准备工作,并利用组态软件MCGS对该系统运行的工作流程进行实时模拟和数据的分析．新型船舶排油监控系统具有安全可靠、集成度高、人机界面丰富等优点．模拟运行结果表明,新型排油监控系统能满足操作人员实时监控船舶排油过程,随时查询历史数据和报警数据等功能,分析结果满足预期设想．     

船舶防油污现状研究及展望

通过对2008年至2012年中国船级社（China Classification Society ,CCS)入级船舶,港口国检查（Port State Control,PSC）缺陷分析,发现近年来随着一系列防油污染相关决议的生效,导致防污染问题逐渐增加,文章从近年来新生效的防油污染决议入手,研究当前防油污染现状,并结合设计、建造及航行管理的要求,深入研究各项法规的细节和难点,以进一步提高防油污染管理效率;最终探究未来防油污染合理可行的发展方向,以推动防油污染技术及管理水平的提高。     

船舶油污染的现状与对策的探讨

通过对我国沿海发生船舶油污染事故的现状和危害的分析,提出加强防油污染的对策和建议.