Collision damage of jack-ups

North Sea collision accident records covering a period of ten years indicate that the risk of collisions involving jack-ups is not dissimilar to that for semi-submersibles or fixed jacket structures. However, jack-ups are much more flexible than jackets and have a much lower degree of redundancy. Their response to collisions and their ability to absorb impact energy is, therefore, expected to be considerably different in comparison to jackets. This paper examines available data and information regarding the capability of jack-ups to withstand collision impacts and investigates the level of local damage that can potentially be caused to jack-up legs due to accidental collisions.     

A 2D long term advection—dispersion model for the Channel and southern North Sea Part B: Transit time and transfer function from Cap de La Hague

A 2D advection-dispersion model, already described and validated, has been used to provide information about water trajectories, transit times, transfer factors and transfer functions in the Channel and North Sea, south of 57 ° N.It shows that a fast vein of water moves parallel to the coast and reaches the northern limit of the model in one year. Along the coast, a few dozen kilometers from this vein, transit times increase by 2–4 months.Tidal gyres in the Channel recirculate waters and dissolved elements for about 2 yr, and in all it generally takes 3 yr for a specific discharge made at La Hague to completely leave the area under study.The transfer factor was depicted and found to be of the order of 10⁻⁵ m.k.s.One utilization of the transfer function could be to predict the future evolution of water content in the months and years following a discharge in these coastal waters.     

Seasonal variability in sea surface oceanographic conditions in the Aegean Sea (Eastern Mediterranean): an overview

Seasonal variability and the spatial distribution of sea surface temperatures (SST) and salinities (SSS) are reviewed, in relation to the prevailing climatological conditions, heat fluxes, water budget and general water circulation patterns. Within this context, consideration is given to: sea surface temperatures; air temperatures; precipitation; evaporation; wind speeds and directions; freshwater (mainly riverine) discharges throughout the Aegean; and the exchange of water masses with the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean Sea. The investigation of satellite images, covering a 6-yr period (1988–1994), has enabled a synthesis of the monthly sea surface thermal distribution to be established.The climate of the Aegean Sea is characterised by annual air temperatures of 16–19.5°C, precipitation of about 500 mm yr⁻¹ and evaporation of some 4 mm d⁻¹. The Aegean has a negative heat budget (approximately −25 W m⁻²) and positive water balance (+ 1.0 m yr⁻¹), when inflow from the Black Sea is considered. During the summer, the (northerly) Etesians are the dominant winds over the Sea.Mean monthly sea surface temperatures (SST) vary from 8°C in the north during winter, up to 26°C in the south during summer. SST depends mainly upon air temperature; there is a month's delay between the former and latter maxima. The sea surface salinity (SSS) varies also spatially and seasonally, ranging from less than 31 psu, in the north, to more than 39 psu, in the southeast; lower values (< 25 psu) occur adjacent to the river mouths. SSSs present their maximum differences during summer, whilst during winter and autumn the distribution of SSS is more uniform. The overall spatial SST and SSS distribution pattern is controlled by: distribution of the (colder) Black Sea Waters; advection of the (warmer) Levantine Waters, from the southeastern part of the Aegean; upwelling and downwelling; and, to a lesser extent, but locally important, freshwater riverine inflows.     

Marketing the professional ship management service

This article aims to apply the relationship marketing concept in a professional ship management context. The dramatic growth in the ship management industry means that companies are increasingly seeking ways of ensuring competitiveness. Efforts have mainly concentrated on the improvement of the quality of the service, market entry strategies, establishment in strategic locations, and promotion. Nevertheless, it is argued that in the professional service context of ship management, the aspect of building and maintaining client relationships is of utmost importance. The building of client relationships will require investments of an economic and social nature, training of personnel and the consideration of marketing as a strategic issue. Ship management companies that build long-term client relationships will ensure client retention, reduce transaction costs and achieve differentiation and competitiveness.     

Challenges and opportunities for transportation: Implementation of the clean air act amendments of 1990 and the intermodal surface transportation efficiency act of 1991

The Federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) may be the most powerful of all environmental laws affecting transportation. They are intended to significantly affect transportation decision-making, not only to achieve air quality goals but also to affect broader environmental goals related to land use, travel mode choice, and reductions in vehicle miles traveled. The CAAA require greater integration of transportation and air quality planning, and assign a greater responsibility to transportation plans and programs for reducing mobile source emissions. By expanding the requirements for determining the conformity of transportation plans, programs, and projects with State Implementation Plans for air quality, and by expanding the use of highway funding sanctions to enforce those requirements, the CAAA ensure a continuing linkage between transportation and environmental goals.While the CAAA give transportation and air quality decision-makers the mandate to better coordinate their respective planning processes, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 offers the tools to help carry out that mandate. Consequently, this paper summarizes the transportation and air quality provisions of both of these Acts and their relationships.     

Scale and rationalization in container shipping

Return to scale are important in container shipping: service operators are continuing to increase the size of their vessels. Mr Seok-Min Lim's article 'Economies of container ship size' (Maritime pollicy and Management,21(2) pages 149-160, 1994) uses a sample of transPacific voyages to evaluate the effect of vessel scale on revenue and cost.Although the results are inconclusive,his study is of value in drawing attention to the revenue-side problems of large containerships. More data need to be collected before the effects of topping up with low-rated cargo on unit revenue retention can be assessed. Meanwhile the pursuit of scale aggravates over-tonnaging. The required response is further rationalization, through the medium of the conferences and the container consortia. In Europe both are under political attack. Operators need to convince the authorities of the soundness of the soundness of their case for adapting these institutions to the neeeds of times.Otherwise the scramble for scale could spell disaster.     

FLUXMANCHE radiotracers measurements: A contribution to the dynamics of the English Channel and North Sea

From 1986 to 1992, ¹²⁵Sb released by the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at La Hague has been used to study the transfer of waters from mid-Channel areas towards the Straits of Dover. Since 1940, these investigations have formed part of the MAST 53 FLUXMANCHE programme and have involved repeated measurements on a Straits of Dover transect. A discussion of the results is presented here which takes into account new information provided by a hydrodynamic model developed in the framework of FLUXMANCHE; it combines knowledge of the monthly fluxes of water trough the Straits of Dover and week-by-week simulation of the ¹²⁵Sb activities of waters flowing in this aera. It is proposed that soluble radionuclides introduced into the central Channel are transferred towards the Straits of Dover over a time which varies from four to seven months depending on the route taken.     

Flange Force Effects on the Motion of a Train Wheelset

The motion of a train wheelset is investigated using Hopf bifurcation theory. The method takes full account of the nonlinear effects of the flange-rail contact forces which are incorporated in the model; The numerical solution is obtained over a wide range of forward speeds by transforming the bifurcation problem into a regular nonlinear boundary value problem, which is solved by standard methods. This solution is shown to be orbitally, asymptotically stable. The algorithm supplies complete information on the lateral and yaw motions and on the period of oscillation, even for very high forward speeds.