Assessment of the maritime labour convention compliance using balanced scorecard and analytic hierarchy process approach

Maritime labour convention (MLC), adopted by International Labour Organization in 2006, is one of the latest contemporary issues in the maritime industry. Since the convention entered into force after August 2013, maritime administrations and ship management companies have great responsibilities to control and verify the socio-technical requirements within the shipboard environment. The convention principally organized along with several key considerations such as minimum requirements for seafarers to work on-board ships, conditions of employment, accommodation, recreational facilities, health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection. At this insight, the compliance and enforcement matters are another concern to fulfil the requirements. This paper provides a model-based approach integrating balanced scorecard (BSC) with analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to evaluate compliance with the MLC requirements at the operational level. The research is expected to provide original contributions to monitor the MLC 2006 compliances level in ship fleet operation and management.     

交通流微观模拟中的路网属性与可视化设计

城市交通微观模拟系统可以为城市交通管理决策提供依据，使城市交通逐步纳入科学管理的轨道，文章对交通流微观模拟系统的基础－模拟路网进行了深入的研究，在了解了实际网络构成的基础上，对宏观路网及微观路网进行了分类定义，描述了路网组成元素的属性，并应用现代计算机技术，实现了在背景地图上的路网矢量化、可视化设计。     

提高路堤下软基土工织物加筋效果的综合措施

提出了多种工程措施 ,以提高路堤下软基土工织物的加筋效果 ,这些措施是 :( 1 )选择堤底宽度较小的工程 ,避开加筋垫层尺寸效应的不利影响 ;( 2 )采用预应变加筋法 ;( 3)堤身填土要有一定的塑性 ,避免脆性破坏 ;( 4 )采用应变法确定织物的允许抗拉强度。这些措施在工程中极易实施并且不需大量增加工程造价 ,是经济且显效的措施     

An analysis and comparison of multinational officers of the watch in the global maritime labor market

ABSTRACT

Officer of the watch (OOW) is an important part of the maritime labor market. For many years, countries have been improving their development of OOWs for the maritime market, in terms of both quantity and quality. As the supply of qualified OOWs for maritime transportation is such an important issue, shipping companies recruit multinational OOWs for both economic and socio-cultural reasons. This study aims to identify the qualifications of an ideal officer that holds office on commercial ships, and to make a comparison among Filipino, Chinese, Indian, Eastern European and Turkish OOWs. The research takes into account expert opinions of a number of shipping companies that employ multinational seafarers. A Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) technique is applied in this study to assist in the comparison of officers. A number of main and sub-criteria are outlined to determine both positive and negative aspects of OOWs from the selected countries for decision making purposes. This study allows maritime countries to evaluate their maritime education and training policies for selection and assessment of OOWs.     

A quantitative risk analysis by using interval type-2 fuzzy FMEA approach: the case of oil spill

ABSTRACT

Risk assessment in maritime domain is one of the most cited topics since maritime transportation poses potential hazard for human life, marine environment and property. To mitigate risk and enhance safety awareness in maritime transportation, safety researchers have been seeking proactive solutions. This article prompts a quantitative risk-based approach combining interval type-2 fuzzy sets (IT2FSs) with failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to perform a comprehensive risk analysis. Thus, potential failure modes and their effects are revealed by calculating risk prioritisation numbers (RPNs). Whilst the FMEA method provides a robust risk analysing tool with relevant control options, the IT2FSs deals with ambiguity and vagueness of linguistic assessment of decision-makers through the FMEA. Hence, expert’s linguistic assessment in risk assessment can be transformed into useful information in terms of enhancing safety and pollution prevention in maritime industry. To demonstrate the proposed approach, potential failures and effects of a real shipboard oil spill case are handled. The findings show that incomplete information exchanged with local maritime authorities, malfunction of oil skimmer and poor organization of shoreline clean-up team are the most important failures during case of oil spill. The proposed approach provides not only theoretical insight into the maritime transportation industry but also practical contributions to chemical/oil tanker safety and environmental protection by mitigating risk in terms of technical or operational aspects.     

Case study analysis of the impacts of electronic commerce on the strategic management of container shipping companies

Despite the prevalence of its use, very little is understood about the role of electronic commerce (EC) practice on the strategic management of container shipping companies. Four case studies were undertaken to assess the main uses, motivations, barriers and strategic relevance of EC in the container shipping industry between 1992 and 2002. The cases studies included one large, one medium and one small deep-sea container line, and one medium-sized feeder line. The research found that despite pressing technical and managerial barriers, the need to improve internal economies provided the most fertile grounds for EC use in 1992 and EC was seen as a tactical tool to achieve these goals. By 2002, customer-oriented motivations became critical to the increased relevance of EC and to its perception as a business necessity.