Maritime security in the European Union—empirical findings on financial implications for port facilities

To address the maritime security issue, the IMO Diplomatic Conference adopted in December 2002 the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. The European Union fully agreed with its contents; Regulation (EC) No. 725/2004 transposes in Community Law the associated rules, which came into force on 1 July 2004. Interesting questions from an EU-policy point of view are then: What are the additional costs associated with the implementation of security regulations by port facilities (here in particular terminals) in EU-member states? Moreover, how are these additional costs being recovered by port facilities? Another inter-related question is: are there any subsidies involved in the cost recovery? The present paper addresses these questions with the presentation of the main results of an explorative empirical study on maritime security-related costs and their financing in EU-member states. Furthermore, a number of topics are recommended for further study on maritime security costs and financing and associated (EU) regulations.     

IAME 2011 – contemporary studies on maritime transport in Latin America

Latin America and the Caribbean have evolved as a region of increased interest for the maritime and port industry as well as for academic research. Maritime transport activity in the region has experienced sustained growth rates over the last decades, resulting in ever-increasing demand for maritime services and port infrastructure. At the 2011 Annual Conference of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), Latin America received significant attention. This editorial responds to growing research by giving a brief overview of the current situation and contemporary issues in maritime transport within the region. It also introduces the six selected papers for this Special Issue.     

Future cost scenarios for reduction of ship CO2 emissions

International shipping is a significant contributor to Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, responsible for approximately 3% of global CO₂ emissions. The International Maritime Organization is currently working to establish GHG regulations for international shipping and a cost effectiveness approach has been suggested to determine the required emission reductions from shipping. To achieve emission reductions in a cost effective manner, this study has assessed the cost and reduction potential for present and future abatement measures based on new and unpublished data. The model used captures the world fleet up to 2030, and the analysis includes 25 separate measures. A new integrated modelling approach has been used combining fleet projections with activity-based CO₂ emission modelling and projected development of measures for CO₂ emission reduction. The world fleet projections up to 2030 are constructed using a fleet growth model that takes into account assumed ship type specific scrapping and new building rates. A baseline trajectory for CO₂ emission is then established. The reduction potential from the baseline trajectory and the associated marginal cost levels are calculated for 25 different emission reduction measures. The results are given as marginal abatement cost curves, and as future cost scenarios for reduction of world fleet CO₂ emissions. The results show that a scenario in which CO₂ emissions are reduced by 33% from baseline in 2030 is achievable at a marginal cost of USD 0 per tonne reduced. At this cost level, emission in 2010 can be reduced by 19% and by 24% in 2020. A scenario with 49% reduction from baseline in 2030 can be achieved at a marginal cost of USD 100 per tonne (27% in 2010 and 35% in 2020). Furthermore, it is evident that further increasing the cost level beyond USD 100 per tonne yield very little in terms of further emission reduction. The results also indicate that stabilising fleet emissions at current levels is obtainable at moderate costs, compensating for fleet growth up to 2030. However, significant reductions beyond current levels seem difficult to achieve. Marginal abatement costs for the major ship types are also calculated, and the results are shown to be relatively homogenous for all major ship types. The presented data and methodology could be very useful for assisting the industry and policymakers in selecting cost effective solutions for reducing GHG emissions from the world fleet.     

Transformations and continuities of issues related to Chinese participation in the global seafarers’ labour market

Since the 1990s, Chinese seafarers have become a force to be reckoned with in the global seafarer labour market, particularly against the backdrop of the manning crisis. Compared with other groups of seafarers dominating the market such as the Filipinos and the Indians, they are commonly associated with perceptions of low cost, poor English skills, different safety/work culture, problems with the International Transport Workers’ Federation, etc. This article identifies transformations and continuities of problems related to Chinese seafarers in the global market in the last two decades or so by reviewing relevant Lloyd’s List reports as well as official documents and previous research. The review shows that Chinese authorities have been taking various initiatives to take advantage of the manning crisis and to expand and promote seafarer education, supply and export, which in general serve to make seafarers better educated and improve their communication skills. Although such initiatives have helped increase seafaring labour export, the success is nevertheless limited by tight government control on recruitment, which makes some foreign managers reluctant to employ Chinese seafarers.     

Numerical simulation of 2D and 3D sloshing waves in a regularly and randomly excited container

In this paper,various aspects of the 2D and 3D nonlinear liquid sloshing problems in vertically excited containers have been studied numerically along with the help of a modified-transformation.Based on this new numerical algorithm,a numerical study on a regularly and randomly excited container in vertical direction was conducted utilizing four different cases： The first case was performed utilizing a 2D container with regular excitations.The next case examined a regularly excited 3D container with two different initial conditions for the liquid free surface,and finally,3D container with random excitation in the vertical direction.A grid independence study was performed along with a series of validation tests.An iteration error estimation method was used to stop the iterative solver（used for solving the discretized governing equations in the computational domain） upon reaching steady state of results at each time step.In the present case,this method was found to produce quite accurate results and to be more time efficient as compared to other conventional stopping procedures for iterative solvers.The results were validated with benchmark results.The wave elevation time history,phase plane diagram and surface plots represent the wave nonlinearity during its motion.     

Assessment of risky driving caused by the amount of time focused on an in-vehicle display system

Korea is currently experiencing a rapidly increasing distribution rate of in-vehicle display devices, such as navigation or DMB displays, owing to remarkable advances in IT. At the same time, the number of traffic accidents and traffic violations is increasing due to the distraction of drivers’ attention by such devices. In particular, in-vehicle display devices such as navigation systems temporarily distract drivers’ visual or cognitive attention when they perform a unit task. Accordingly, it is necessary to prepare adequate standards to regulate in-vehicle display devices, especially in Korea. There are few empirical studies that have employed experiments to support such regulation. In this study, an experiment was conducted using a driving simulator to establish the proper standards regarding the maximum distraction time per unit task that can be allowed without causing any disturbance in safe driving. A total of 25 participants participated in the experiment. The distraction time was controlled by asking participants to perform the two tasks at once: while participants were driving as a primary task, they performed secondary task that count the number of intersections between the start point and the arrival point displayed on the screen. The results showed that the 2.0 second condition differed from the controlled condition in the deviation in the distance from the preceding vehicle, speed, and steering wheel movement, whereas there were no differences between the controlled condition and the 1.0 or 1.5 second condition. Finally, the limitations of the study and the implications of the findings with regard to future studies and application of the Korean version of guidelines for in-vehicle display devices are discussed.     

Numerical analysis of homogeneous mixture formation for a direct injection liquid LPG engine

A method to form a homogeneous mixture using low pressure direct injection of liquid phase LPG, pent-roof combustion chamber, flat-top piston and center-located injector layout is presented. To validate the method, the mixture formation processes in the cylinder were investigated using the CFD code. The effect of different injection timing and engine loads on the mixture formation processes were researched. The simulated results showed that, the intake tumble for high load conditions or the inclined intake swirl for part load conditions would break into small-scale vortex (turbulence) near the end of compression stroke, which enhanced the homogeneous mixture formation. The results also showed that if the liquid phase LPG was injected at 60–80°CA ATDC in intake stroke even at different loads, the homogeneous mixture would be formed under any engine load conditions.     

Evaluation of preview G-Vectoring control to decelerate a vehicle prior to entry into a curve

This paper describes the development of the braking assistance system based on a “G-Vectoring” concept. The present work focuses in particular on “Preview G-Vectoring Control” (PGVC), which is based on the “G-Vectoring Control” (GVC) scheme. In GVC, the longitudinal-acceleration control algorithm is based on the actual lateral jerk. PGVC decelerates a vehicle before it enters a curve, and is based on a new longitudinal-acceleration control algorithm which uses predicted and actual lateral jerk. Using the predicted lateral jerk makes it possible to decelerate the vehicle prior to curve entry. This deceleration can emulate a driver’s deceleration as the vehicle approaches a curve entry. PGVC is based on such deceleration algorithms and enables automatic deceleration similar to the action of a driver. It is thus possible to significantly improve the driver’s feeling when this system is activated. Driving tests with this new control system on snowy-winding course confirmed that the automatic brake control quality improved considerably compared to manual driver control considering both lap time and ride quality. These results indicate that PGVC can be a useful braking assistance system not only to improve the driver’s handling performance but also to reduce the brake-task during driving on winding roads.     

Optimal fuel-cut driving method for better fuel economy

Eco-drive methods are being applied in modern passenger cars in the form of LCD displays showing real-time fuel consumption rates. The eco-drive is one of the most promising methods to enhance the fuel economy of vehicles. The ecodrive method can be made more effective by using the fuel-cut function. The fuel is not injected when the driver does not depress the gas pedal of a vehicle with engine speeds higher than approximately 1,500 rpm above the mid-vehicle speed range. This function is known as the fuel-cut function, and almost every modern vehicle is equipped with this function. The fuel-cut is most frequently activated on downhill sections of highway. Therefore, the CO₂ exhausted from the vehicle can be zero in this downhill section. In this study, the fuel-cut function is simulated with CRUISE of AVL to find the most effective driving pattern in downhill sections. Simulations with the CRUISE software showed that the lower limit of the vehicle speed for fuelcut should be raised to improve fuel economy on steeper downhill sections. The fuel economy can be optimized when the fuelcut coasting and reacceleration is completed in the downhill part of the road. The simulation result was also compared to previous test results. Fuel consumption was reduced by approximately 4% in both the experimental and simulated results for the West Coast Highway in South Korea.