The analysis of life safety and economic loss in marine accidents occurring in the Turkish Straits

The increase in the world's trading capacity, which has been spurred by globalization, has caused problems in marine transportation, namely congestion. Despite the safety measures currently in place, marine accidents are still not being prevented. This study focuses on marine accidents in the Turkish Straits that have done serious harm to humans, the natural environment, and the economy. To reduce the negative impacts mentioned above, this study considered the most common types of accidents, their causes, and their results. For this purpose, 850 serious marine accidents, which took place in the Turkish Straits between the years of 2001 and 2010 (as recorded by the Undersecretaries for Maritime Affairs), have been analyzed and the data obtained have been systematically tabulated using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology. According to the data, the most significant cause of marine accidents in the Turkish Straits is human error. This study proposes measures to ensure that ship personnel are competent, mentally and physically, to navigate narrow and dangerous waterways in order to minimize the amount of accidents caused by human error.     

Implementing green supply chain practices: an empirical investigation in the shipbuilding industry

ABSTRACT

Environmental concerns have become important in the shipbuilding industry. Governmental expectations about environmental and social performance are much higher than in the past. Public authorities penalize companies that do not comply with the rules. Shipbuilding companies face these challenges by introducing new technologies into their business processes. They do not only start initiatives to green their own business processes but also those of their supply chain partners. This form of environmental management is called Green Supply Chain Management (GrSCM) and its importance is increasingly recognized. Although GrSCM is growing, companies are experiencing difficulties engaging suppliers in environmental activities.

This empirical study analyses drivers for supply chain participation of suppliers in the shipbuilding industry. We explain the participations of suppliers in GrSCM practice by investigating influencing factors including governmental involvement in greening the supply chain, customer requirements towards green issues, feeling of social responsibility, competitive advantage by going green, and GrSCM readiness. Hypotheses are tested with partial least squares, using survey data of 93 suppliers of two leading shipbuilding companies. We found GrSCM readiness, competitive advantage, and social responsibility to be significant drivers in supplier participation. No significant support was found for governmental involvement and customer requirements.     

Wave climate evolution in the Bay of Biscay over two decades

As a background, a review of long term evolution of wave climate in the North Atlantic is discussed. Most studies show that interannual evolutions in wave heights may be related to climatic factors, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation Index for example.Data of a waverider, consisting of a time series of 20 years in the Bay of Biscay (off Biscarosse, France), are analysed. Based on these data obtained from 1980, wave heights tend to decrease over the period. Also, interannual evolutions exist, particularly in the wave period. The fact that the annual wave periods at Biscarosse are found to vary more significantly than the annual wave heights led us to assume that it is an indirect effect of the evolution in the location of generating storms relative to the buoy. The relationships between wave parameters and climatic factors such as the North Atlantic Oscillation Index and the Garonne discharge have been derived: they show that the NAO index is negatively correlated with the river discharge and positively correlated with the wave period. This result is in agreement with the general climate scheme associated with NAO cycle proposed by Kushnir et al. [Kushnir, Y., Cardone, V.J., Cane, M., 1995. Link between Atlantic climate variability of surface wave height and sea level pressure. Proc. Fourth Int. Workshop on Wave Incasting and forecasting, Banff, AB, Canada, 59–64.]: NAO+ shifts storm tracks northward and dry weather are encountered in the southern part of Europe (conversely NAO− brings storm tracks and rainfall closer). Concerning wave heights, the lack of dependence on NAO index may be associated with compensation effects between wind intensity and storm tracks: wave energy is partly dissipated while reaching the Bay of Biscay in case of severe but distant storms (NAO+), which is not the case for storms generated nearer to the buoy and associated with moderate westerly winds (NOA−). However, the reason of the decrease in wave heights is not clear.     

一种智轨列车的全景环视图像生成方法

针对新型交通系统多编组智轨列车(Autonomous rail rapid transit,ART)由于车体过长而存在的安全隐患,基于8个单目相机传感器和2个铰接角度传感器,提出改进的图像配准方法以生成单车厢环视图像。结合图像映射原理与几何对齐技术融合铰接传感器角度数据实现整车全景环视图像的生成。研究结果表明:在单车厢环视图像生成过程中,改进的基于固定棋盘格内角点的图像配准方法配准精度与效率更高,且实际操作更简单;在多车厢环视图像生成过程中,本文所提出的方法被证明了在不同的铰接角时都能够有效且清晰地生成整车的全景环视图像,这对可视化大型多编组车辆视野盲区以及主动为驾驶员提供行车环境信息从而保证车辆安全驾驶具有重要意义。     

列车流线型外形三维参数化CAD系统

随着提速的要求 ,高速列车外形的流线化设计已经成为一种趋势。介绍了二次开发三维参数化曲面建模 CAD系统的基本方法 ,基于 Auto CAD2 0 0 0平台 ,利用 Object ARX2 0 0 0和 VC 6.0技术开发了集成 CAD系统—— LSurf CAD,并介绍了系统的主要功能和界面。     

Influence of varying restoring moment curve on parametric roll motion of ships in regular longitudinal waves

This paper examines the influence of stability characteristics on roll motion in the main parametric resonance region. For this purpose, parametrically exited roll motion was modeled as a single degree of freedom system considering heave and pitch effects by means of time varying restoring moment. In addition, restoring moment variations in waves with respect to time and instantaneous roll angle was modeled analytically using the restoring moment curves for the wave crest and wave trough conditions. Roll responses were evaluated in frequency domain by solving the model with an averaging method. Notable correlation between the stability of roll responses and moment curves were observed. The results revealed that, the ratio of metacentric height (GM)between the wave trough and wave crest affects the stability of the trivial solution. Furthermore, the shape of the restoring moment curves in wave trough and wave crest conditions affects the stability of the non-trivial solution or, in other words, the pitchfork bifurcations.     

Numerical simulation of the barotropic tides in the Tunisian Shelf and the Strait of Sicily

We have investigated the barotropic tides in the Tunisian shelf and the Strait of Sicily using the Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) with very high-resolution. Model performance was evaluated with respect to tide gauge, satellite data, and current meter measurements. The model fields faithfully reproduced the major feature of the barotropic tidal currents and agreed well with existing tidal elevation and phase observations. General features for the various semidiurnal constituents are nearly similar to each other with maximum amplitude in the Gulf of Gabes. The larger tidal currents occur over the continental shelves. In the Adventure Bank, the current is essentially of diurnal type whereas in the Gulf of Gabes it is of semidiurnal type.Tidal energy lost, which is primarily due to bottom stress dissipation, is predominantly in the Gulf of Gabes ( 61%), the Strait of Sicily, and the Strait of Messina. The forcing function for internal tides shows for both M₂ and K₁ constituents, significant spatial variability in the Strait of Sicily. This suggests that some internal tides will be generated in these regions and could thus explain the observed strong diurnal internal waves in the Adventure Bank.     

Predictors of car use habit strength in an urban Norwegian public

Car use in urban areas carries well known risks for negative effects on urban quality of life, the environment and land use. Previous psychological work has mainly studied the habit of using a car as a predictor variable, whereas only a few studies have focused on psychological factors that may underlie and shape the habit. The aim of the present study is to examine demographic characteristics, spatial variables and social–psychological factors associated with car habit use strength. The results are based on a survey conducted in a random urban population-based sample with car access recruited from the Norwegian population registry (n = 878). Car use habit strength was stronger among male than female respondents and tended to be weak with a lower income. Multivariate logistic regression showed that reporting pro-environmental attitudes and personal norms predicted a weak car use habit strength, while reporting strong priority of flexibility and a long distance from home to work predicted a strong car use habit strength. Car use habit is influenced by multiple demographic, spatial and social–psychological factors, which should be carefully addressed in interventions aimed at reducing the likelihood of developing a strong car habit strength.     

Simulation optimization of the berth allocation in a container terminal with flexible vessel priority management

ABSTRACT

Solving the berth allocation problem (BAP) in ports is not trivial where the berth resources are limited and various sizes of vessels arrive with dramatically dissimilar loads. Especially in real scenarios, arriving vessels are accepted for a berth with the first come first served (FCFS) priority rule. This study proposes a decision support system coupled with a simulation optimization module based on the swarm-based Artificial Bee Colony optimization algorithm for solving the BAP. The proposed methodology was implemented for the Izmir port in Turkey. To investigate the influences of the vessel priorities on the BAP, four different experimental scenarios based on the single (SQM) and multiple queue models (MQM) were coupled with FCFS and proposed hybrid queue priority (HQP) rule. The results indicated that SQM scenarios were superior to MQM scenarios in a manner of minimizing the average vessel waiting times and the implementation of a dynamic berth allocation strategy for the MQM significantly decreases the vessel waiting times. Results of the SQM also imply that utilization of the HQP approach further minimizes the average vessel waiting times and increases the berth utilization and port throughput without yielding excessive waiting times for the larger vessels compared with the FCFS priority rule.     

A new roadway lighting measurement system

Past studies have shown that the level of roadway lighting is an important factor for nighttime roadway safety. To evaluate roadway lighting systems and maintain their functionality, it is essential to perform field lighting measurements. Currently, field measurements of roadway lighting systems are often conducted by handheld light meters using a short sample section. The evaluation of an entire corridor or a longer section is difficult when using the traditional manual measurement methods. This paper addresses this difficulty by developing a new lighting measurement system that can be used to collect massive amounts of lighting level data in an efficient, safe, and effective manner. The system consists of a light meter, a distance measurement instrument (DMI), a computer, software, and an electronic converter circuit to connect the computer and other hardware. Software was developed for the communication link between the computer and the light meter, and to record both the distance and illuminance data. The system was calibrated and validated with the field data. The new system will not only reduce future data collection costs, but also improve safety for field data collection personnel. The system has been approved for use to collect illuminance data on Florida state roads greater than or equal to 250-miles in length.