Model course to revalidate deck officers’ competences using simulators

In accordance with Part A, Chapter I, Section I/11 Revalidation of Certificates of the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) 2010 Convention, continued evaluation of professional competence shall be established, among others, by successfully completing an approved training course or courses. Every master, officer and radio operator holding a certificate issued or recognised under any chapter of the convention other than chapter VI, who is serving at sea or intends to return to sea after a period ashore, shall be required, at intervals not exceeding 5 years, to demonstrate continued professional competence, in order to continue to qualify for seagoing service. The main objective of this research is to design a model course using simulation technology to train and demonstrate seafarers’ competence in accordance with the provisions of STCW Code for existing seafarers who need to revalidate their professional maritime certificates also in accordance with the standards governing the use of simulators, Reg I/12 of 2010 STCW Code. The purpose of this revalidation simulation-based model course is to assist maritime training institutes and their teaching staff in organising and introducing specific training courses for revalidation of certificates of competence (CoCs) as well as enhancing, updating or supplementing existing training material where the quality and effectiveness of the training courses may thereby be improved. Only those STCW competences relating to ship bridge simulators will be considered for the model course scenario development and testing.     

采用沿岸动力概念以减少埃及红海海域高速船燃料消耗与降低排放(英文)

The progress of economic globalization,the rapid growth of international trade,and the maritime transportation has played an increasingly significant role in the international supply chain.As a result,worldwide seaports have suffered from a central problem,which appears in the form of massive amounts of fuel consumed and exhaust gas fumes emitted from the ships while berthed.Many ports have taken the necessary precautions to overcome this problem,while others still suffer due to the presence of technical and financial constraints.In this paper,the barriers,interconnection standards,rules,regulations,power sources,and economic and environmental analysis related to ships,shore-side power were studied in efforts to find a solution to overcome his problem.As a case study,this paper investigates the practicability,costs and benefits of switching from onboard ship auxiliary engines to shore-side power connection for high-speed crafts called Alkahera while berthed at the port of Safaga,Egypt.The results provide the national electricity grid concept as the best economical selection with 49.03 percent of annual cost saving.Moreover,environmentally,it could achieve an annual reduction in exhaust gas emissions of CO2,CO,NOx,P.M,and SO2by 276,2.32,18.87,0.825 and 3.84 tons,respectively.     

Liability for oil spill damages: Issues,methods, and examples

Liability is an important incentive‐based instrument for preventing oil spills and provides a sustainable approach for restoring coastal resources injured by spills. However, the use of liability for environmental damages raises many challenges, including quantification of money measures of damages. In this article, case studies are used to illustrate the issues, methods, and challenges associated with assessing a range of damages, from those that can be measured relatively easily using market information to more “esoteric,”; and much more difficult, cases involving non‐market‐valued losses. Also discussed are issues raised by the new national and international regulatory focus on restoration and by the simplified, compensatory formula used by some states.     

Recent progress in the genetics of generalized vitiligo

Vitiligo is an acquired disease characterized principally by patchy depigmentation of skin and overlying hair. Generalized vitiligo (GV), the predominant form of the disorder, results from autoimmune l...     

The significance of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for the shipping industry

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) was established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as a body to settle disputes between States Parties to the Convention regarding the interpretation or application of the Convention s provisions, including provisions concerning the exercise of the powers of States over shipping and the discharge by states of their responsibilities and obligations in relation to ships.ITLOS is competent to deal with disputes in which a State is alleged to have wrongly interfered with or otherwise restrained the operation of a vessel when it is in a port of the State or within the territorial sea or exclusive economic zone of the State.In its previous judgments, ITLOS has provided clarifications of some important areas of the law of the sea concerning the operation and regulation of shipping by flag States and other states.ITLOS plays a key role in the regime of the Law of the Sea Convention relating to the prompt release of ships and their crews that are arrested or detained in a foreign port.ITLOS also has the possibility to serve as ajudicial organ for the settlement of disputes under other maritime agreements and contracts, if the parties to the agreements or contracts agree to confer jurisdiction on it.There are many advantages to be gained by States and shipping operators from using ITLOS as the body for the settlement of disputes under agreements. These advantages include savings in time and expenses.     

船舶SOFC燃料电池与汽轮机联合动力装置能效分析(英文)

Strong restrictions on emissions from marine power plants(particularly SOx,NOx)will probably be adopted in the near future.In this paper,a combined solid oxide fuel cell(SOFC)and steam turbine fuelled by natural gas is proposed as an attractive option to limit the environmental impact of the marine sector.The analyzed variant of the combined cycle includes a SOFC operated with natural gas fuel and a steam turbine with a single-pressure waste heat boiler.The calculations were performed for two types of tubular and planar SOFCs,each with an output power of 18 MW.This paper includes a detailed energy analysis of the combined system.Mass and energy balances are performed not only for the whole plant but also for each component in order to evaluate the thermal efficiency of the combined cycle.In addition,the effects of using natural gas as a fuel on the fuel cell voltage and performance are investigated.It has been found that a high overall efficiency approaching 60%may be achieved with an optimum configuration using the SOFC system.The hybrid system would also reduce emissions,fuel consumption,and improve the total system efficiency.     

Ultimate strength design of stiffened plates under axial compression and bending

The basis for design of stiffened plates under longitudinal compression is outlined and predictions using several codes are compared against numerical results from an inelastic beam-column formulation and test results. In order to explore the inherent differences in column behaviour separately from discrepancies arising due to plate panel behaviour, the code predictions are re-evaluated adopting a common plate panel effective width formulation. On this basis, a critical review of code methods is made and some modifications are proposed.

The effect of the magnitude and direction of applied uniform bending on the axial capacity of stiffened plates is investigated by comparing two alternative design approaches, namely an interaction equation and a method based on the Perry equation, against results from numerical analyses and from rigid plastic theory. The interaction equation is invariably more conservative than the Perry approach but its simplicity tends to be convenient for routine design applications. Finally, results of numerical analyses, together with experimental results from previous studies, on continuous stiffened plates under combined axial compression and lateral pressure are presented and available design guidance is discussed.     

Relationships between near-bottom dissolved oxygen and sediment profile camera measures

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and other environmental authorities regulate concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO) as a measure of nutrient-related eutrophication in estuarine and coastal waters. However, in situ DO concentrations are extremely variable, and their characterization requires an extensive sampling program to provide data over meaningful scales of time and space. In contrast, benthic faunal communities integrate the impacts of low DO over time, and can be rapidly assessed using benthic imaging. The goal of this study was to quantify the relationships between near-bottom dissolved oxygen and measures derived from benthic imaging with a sediment profile camera. We monitored three stations in Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island, USA) for DO and other water quality parameters 15–20 cm above the sediment surface on 15-minute intervals between July and November 2002, and regularly sampled these stations with a sediment profile camera throughout this time period. These soft-sediment stations encompassed several DO environments. We tested for relationships between near-bottom DO and several camera measures, including Nilsson and Rosenberg's Benthic Habitat Quality (BHQ) index, the apparent Redox Potential Discontinuity (aRPD) depth, and various faunal features that can be identified in sediment profile images. Camera measures were examined against a variety of methods of characterizing DO (including mean DO, and the percent of time under various DO thresholds), over a span of time scales from 1 day to 49 days. The best relationship (highest r²) between near-bottom DO and BHQ was found when DO was evaluated as the percent of time under a hypoxic threshold of 2.6 mg l^− 1 over a 28-day time scale (by examining DO records over the 28 days preceding each camera deployment). We found that, over several benthic settings, the BHQ index was successful at identifying environments that had experienced relatively high or low DO over the preceding four weeks. Our sediment profile data showed more variability with DO in the intermediate values of BHQ. We conclude that sediment profile camera measures correlate to DO in areas where low DO is the primary stressor, integrate DO over ecologically relevant time scales, and enable sampling over spatial scales that are meaningful for mapping by virtue of rapid deployment and analysis. We submit that sediment profile camera imagery is a useful assessment and mapping tool for environmental managers interested in benthic condition and in first-order quantitative estimates of near-bottom DO regimes in areas where low DO is the primary benthic stressor.     

Influence of injection parameters on the transition from PCCI combustion to diffusion combustion in a small-bore HSDI diesel engine

In this paper, the influence of injection parameters on the transition from Premixed Charge Combustion Ignition (PCCI) combustion to conventional diesel combustion was investigated in an optically accessible High-Speed Direct-Injection (HSDI) diesel engine using multiple injection strategies. The heat release characteristics were analyzed using incylinder pressure for different operating conditions. The whole cycle combustion process was visualized with a high-speed video camera by simultaneously capturing the natural flame luminosity from both the bottom of the optical piston and the side window, showing the three dimensional combustion structure within the combustion chamber. Eight operating conditions were selected to address the influences of injection pressure, injection timing, and fuel quantity of the first injection on the development of second injection combustion. For some cases with early first injection timing and a small fuel quantity, no liquid fuel is found when luminous flame points appear, which shows that premixed combustion occurs for these cases. However, with the increase of first injection fuel quantity and retardation of the first injection timing, the combustion mode transitions from PCCI combustion to diffusion flame combustion, with liquid fuel being injected into the hot flame. The observed combustion phenomena are mainly determined by the ambient temperature and pressure at the start of the second injection event. The start-of-injection ambient conditions are greatly influenced by the first injection timing, fuel quantity, and injection pressure. Small fuel quantity and early injection timing of the first injection event and high injection pressure are preferable for low sooting combustion.     

Reducing pedestrian exposure to environmental pollutants: A combined noise exposure and air quality analysis approach

This study offers a combined analysis of pedestrian exposure to noise and air pollution within a specific urban setting in Dublin, Ireland. The impact of a recent boardwalk development on reducing pedestrian exposure to air and noise pollution is examined while modelling experiments are undertaken to explore the possibility of achieving further reductions in pollutant exposure through better urban design and planning. The results show that the boardwalk has reduced pedestrian exposure to air and noise pollution and that further reductions may be achieved by more strict segregation of pedestrian and road traffic in urban areas.