Shipping and investment incentives: a trilogy Part 2. Investment incentives for shipping

This paper concentrates on the shipping industry and considers the forms of fiscal and financial incentives which are used by different governments to promote or encourage investment in their shipping industry. The analysis reduces the various packages of investment incentives and loan arrangements to a common measurement—the net present value of the package—and uses this to draw international comparisons and rankings. The results are based on different values of rates of return in the shipping industry and under certain assumptions concerning the rate of inflation and the rate of discount. Differences in loan arrangements have also been incorporated. The particular results are valid only for the specified circumstances but the methodology is generally applicable.     

Sail–sail and sail–hull interaction effects of hybrid-sail assisted bulk carrier

In a previously reported study, wind tunnel experiments were undertaken to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of hybrid-sails in isolation. Such sails are seen as providing a worthwhile reduction in the delivered power to the propeller and hence the engine generated thrust, with a corresponding reduction in the CO₂ production of diesel engine exhaust. In this paper, wind tunnel testing is used to investigate sail–sail interaction effects for two sets of four identical hybrid-sails, and the sail–hull interaction effects for the same two sets of four identical sails in the presence of a bulk carrier hullform. The analysis presented suggests that to build a sail-assisted ship requires an appreciation of the sail–sail and sail–hull interaction effects.     

Hydrographic cruises off northwest Africa: the Canary Current and the Cape Ghir region

We present hydrographic data for several sections located along the African coastline and off Cape Ghir, carried out at times of weak surface winds (October 1995 and September 1997). The main sections are near the continental slope, at mean distances between 100 and 150 km from the coastline. North of Cape Ghir (31°N) the geostrophic transport (referenced to 650 m) of North Atlantic Central Water through these sections is 3.7 and 2.0 Sv for 1995 and 1997, respectively. This confirms that a major fraction of the water transport by the Canary Current flows east, into the continental slope off northwest Africa, at latitudes above Cape Ghir. Most of this flow continues south past Cape Ghir, along the coast and probably through the eastern passages of the Canary Archipelago. A significant fraction, however, may escape through surface Ekman transport (0.3–0.5 Sv during the early fall season) and by offshore flow at Cape Ghir (1.1 Sv in September 1997, referenced to 650 m). Despite the weak winds the Cape Ghir filament was clearly visible, characterized by localized coastal upwelling associated to a cyclonic shallow structure and cold (and fresh) waters stretching offshore as a very shallow feature (50–100 m deep). The satellite images show that the surface temperature field is highly variable, in rapid response to the surface winds, always with a core region of relatively cold water and commonly with one or two associated eddies. Our results support the existence of two recirculation cells in the area: a horizontal one that connects the interior eastern boundary currents with the coastal region and a vertical one related to both wind-induced and filament upwelling. The data also show a salinity subsurface maximum at the root of the filament, linked to water inflow from northern latitudes, and a subsurface anticyclonic eddy over the Agadir canyon, likely related to the poleward slope undercurrent.     

The simple,compelling case for PRT

When compared with existing urban modes, Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) offers compelling advantages in every important respect. The desirable attributes of any urban mobility mode are well documented, such as minimal travel time, safety, comfort, low cost, and minimal impacts. These attributes are used to define a hypothetical, ideal urban mode. The ideal mode would possess characteristics such as no waiting, no stops, from anywhere to anywhere service, risk-free, non-polluting, and accessible to everyone at any time. Although not attainable in the real world, the ideal provides a model and benchmark for design much as the Carnot thermodynamic cycle guides the development of internal combustion engines, or ideal gases and perfect fluids are postulated in physics. A matrix format is used to present the characteristics of various modes against the desirable attributes of any mode. Modes presented are the ideal, walking, bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, taxis, buses, rail transit, Automated Guideway Transit (AGT), and PRT. In all respects, PRT is shown to approach the ideal much more closely than competing modes.     

锰冶炼男工肝功能的调查研究

为探讨锰对冶炼工人肝功能的影响，对某厂70名冶炼男工和24名对照男工的主观症状和血清总蛋白、白蛋白、谷丙转氨酶、谷草转氨酶、胆碱酯酶活性和麝香草酚浊度进行了调查，结果显示，作业环境空气中MnO2几何均数为0．65mg/m^3，两组工人的自觉症状主拆率未风显著性差异，上述肝功能指标的均值和异常率比较也无显著性差异。     

Adapting interactive stated response techniques to a self-completion survey

We report here on how we adapted Interactive Stated Response Methods to use in a self-completion survey of 454 California households to measure the market for electric vehicles in California. Electric vehicles are a novel product and have many features unfamiliar to consumers, in particular their home recharging capability and limited range. Reflexive techniques were designed to draw households into a deeper exploration of the lifestyle implications of electric vehicles than can be done in more typical self-completion surveys, and to stimulate key decision processes previously observed in detailed gaming interviews with 51 households. Reflexive self-completion techniques provide a middle course between typical large sample quantitative surveys and small sample, detailed gaming interviews. One of the benefits of the more intensive techniques was that participants reported finding the surveys interesting and return rates were high for a self-completion approach – over sixty percent. We review previous transportation and sociological methods which inspired our design, describe the design goals and features of our research, and summarize research results pertinent to testing the validity of our approach.     

Editorial prologue

Abstract

The economic and environmental consequences of a proposed Louisiana superport have been studied by researchers during the last three years. These studies provided technical information and management alternatives. Management alternatives included state control to avoid multiple superport developments, details for an Environmental Protection Plan, comparisons of onshore and offshore sites, and planning for ancillary development. Policy decisions which resulted include many of the recommendations of the research. It is suggested that environmental research can influence policy decisions and limit the options available to a decision maker provided some legal structure is created, quality control is implemented, and technological and environmental problems are recognized. Various analytical tools, such as energy cost accounting, group critique, and simulation models, have wide application for use in coastal zone management.     

Cooperative tourism and the coastal zone

Abstract

Most tourist development takes place in the coastal zone. Concentrated tourist use continues in spite of opposition by groups who feel that any tourism, especially international, threatens both the natural environment and local values. Although shorelines and “coastscapes”; belong to all, decisions regarding them are made by relatively few. The number of community organizations involved in coastal zone management decisions varies from almost none in some Third World countries to dozens in places like Hawaii or California. Constructive use of coastal zones requires an understanding of the interactions between biophysical and social systems. Planning tourism in this context requires that all groups with an interest in the coastal zone join in a new “cooperative tourism”; in which all contribute to decisions and face ultimate responsibilities.     

British OSV companies in the North Sea, 1964-1997

In the mid 1960s the world OSV industry was dominated by American operators, but with the rise of the North Sea offshore industry, British entrepreneurs were given the chance to contest American dominance. By the mid 1970s British OSV companies had made great progress and, at least in the North Sea context, their principal rivals were now the Norwegians rather than the Americans. British OSV companies continued to prosper until the world oil price collapse of 1986. This blow led to a restructuring of the British OSV industry, which led, by the mid-1990s, to Stirling Shipping being the principal British OSV firm in the North Sea and OIL being the largest non-American OSV company in the world. The 1997 sale of OIL to the Americans was a blow to the British OSV sector, but British enterprise in this field still continues in the North Sea.     

Use of a probabilistic particle tracking model to simulate the Prestige oil spill

A probabilistic particle tracking model is used to simulate the oil dispersion after the Prestige wreckage. This oil spill constitutes a suitable benchmark to analyze the capabilities of a probabilistic model, since the time elapsed from wreckage to oil landing (12 days) is much longer than the reliability time associated with forecast winds, usually on the order of 3–4 days. The particle model can be run in two different modes: real time mode (when existing reliable wind fields for the event under scope) and in probabilistic mode (in absence of reliable wind fields but with historical fields corresponding to a similar period). The validity of the particle model is first evaluated in a hindcast way, running the Prestige case with the wind fields corresponding to the period November 19 to November 30, 2002, which were not available at the moment of the wreckage. Calculations show the accuracy of the model to provide the right impact point and timing. The probabilistic model is then used to simulate the same event by means of historical data. The region where the oil landed is shown to be the area with the highest probability to be impacted.