International Maritime Transport Research Articles

Precariousness and vulnerability: Seafarers in the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the world and work in particular, but its effects on the labor market were not evenly distributed. Seafarers, who are essential workers engaging in international maritime transport, encountered exacerbated challenges to labor conditions at sea during the pandemic. Notably, the inability to conduct crew changes violated their right to rest, increasing the risk of fatigue-related safety accidents at sea. Additionally, the precarious nature of maritime employment relationships delayed seafarers waiting to enlist on the vessels, creating extended financial hardship ashore. Socio-legal analysis revealed how the pandemic, related public health measures and precarious employment heightened the vulnerability of seafarers during the pandemic. Applying the Pressure, Disorganization and Regulatory Failure model and supported by qualitative data collected through a policy review, media coverage analysis and semi-structured interviews, we identified how seafarers’ health and safety rights were significantly compromised during the pandemic. Even though various initiatives were raised by international governmental and non-governmental organizations to address the “humanitarian crisis” at sea, maritime labor regulatory failures were not effectively addressed throughout the multiple waves of the pandemic.

Creating New Antifoulants Using the Tools and Tactics of Medicinal Chemistry.

ConspectusThe unwanted accumulation of marine micro- and macroorganisms such as algae and barnacles on submerged man-made structures and vessel hulls is a major challenge for any marine operation. Known as biofouling, this problem leads to reduced hydrodynamic efficiency, significantly increased fuel usage, microbially induced corrosion, and, if not managed appropriately, eventual loss of both performance and structural integrity. Ship hull biofouling in the international maritime transport network conservatively accounts for 0.6% of global carbon emissions, highlighting the global scale and the importance of this problem. Improved antifouling strategies to limit surface colonization are paramount for essential activities such as shipping, aquaculture, desalination, and the marine renewable energy sector, representing both a multibillion dollar cost and a substantial practical challenge. From an ecological perspective, biofouling is a primary contributor to the global spread of invasive marine species, which has extensive implications for the marine environment.Historically, heavy metal-based toxic biocides have been used to control biofouling. However, their unwanted collateral ecological damage on nontarget species and bioaccumulation has led to recent global bans. With expanding human activities within aquaculture and offshore energy, it is both urgent and apparent that environmentally friendly surface protection remains key for maintaining the function of both moving and stationary marine structures. Biofouling communities are typically a highly complex network of both micro- and macroorganisms, representing a broad section of life from bacteria to macrophytes and animals. Given this diversity, it is unrealistic to expect that a single antifouling "silver bullet" will prevent colonization with the exception of generally toxic biocides. For that reason, modern and future antifouling solutions are anticipated to rely on novel coating technologies and "combination therapies" where mixtures of narrow-spectrum bioactive components are used to provide coverage across fouling species. In contrast to the existing cohort of outdated, toxic antifouling strategies, such as copper- and tributyltin-releasing paints, modern drug discovery techniques are increasingly being employed for the rational design of effective yet safe alternatives. The challenge for a medicinal chemistry approach is to effectively account for the large taxonomic diversity among fouling organisms combined with a lack of well-defined conserved molecular targets within most taxa.The current Account summarizes our work employing the tools of modern medicinal chemistry to discover, modify, and develop optimized and scalable antifouling solutions based on naturally occurring antifouling and repelling compounds from both marine and terrestrial sources. Inspiration for rational design comes from targeted studies on allelopathic natural products, natural repelling peptides, and secondary metabolites from sessile marine organisms with clean exteriors, which has yielded several efficient and promising antifouling leads.

Indicators and Manifestations of the Balancing between International Carriage Parties according to the Rotterdam Rules

The regulations and rules governing maritime transport were not uniform among countries. Such uniformity is due to a failure to accede to a single convention. Countries were either acceded to or withdrawn from the Brussels Convention, and acceded instead to the Hamburg Convention, and so on. As a consequence, international maritime transport provisions no longer have the status of legal unification, making international commercial transactions unstable, in addition to the development in international trade and maritime transport in particular, such as reliance on containerized transport, use of technology in Multimodal transportation and consideration of door-to-door transport as a phase of maritime transport. In response, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) undertook to prepare a new draft convention on contracts for the international carriage of goods wholly or partly by sea ("Rotterdam Rules"), which was adopted on 11 December 2008. The texts of that Convention are international substantive rules concluded within the framework of an international organization (United Nations), representing a binding and acceptable global regulation, which contain solutions compatible with the relevant international treaties and a balance of the responsibilities and obligations of all parties (carrier and shipper) engaged in the international carriage of goods and associated third parties, And this balance was brought by the rules with many indicators in their rulings that indicated it which govern all different modes of transport as one contract. This is what the study deals with by presentation and analysis, leading to the confirmed results.

A framework for determining the life cycle GHG emissions of fossil marine fuels in countries reliant on imported energy through maritime transportation: A case study of South Korea

This research was motivated to address limitations in the current lifecycle assessment frameworks with the absence of proper guidelines for developing default lifecycle values of energies in consideration of supply chain activities and maritime transportation. Given this, it aims to evaluate the level of life cycle GHG emissions of heavy fuel oil, LNG, LPG and methanol as marine fuels produced and supplied in energy import-dependent countries, using South Korea as a case study. The analysis clearly shows that the impact of international shipping on Well-to-Tank (WtT) GHG emissions for energy carriers would be subject to several factors: propulsion system types, the quantify of energy transported, and the routes and distances of voyages. For instance, transportation emissions from LNG carriers for LNG fuel vary significantly depending on the country of import, ranging from 2.26 g CO2 eq./MJ (representing 12.2 % of Well-to-Tank (WtT) emissions for Malaysia) to 5.97 g CO2 eq./MJ (representing 33.3 % of WtT emissions for Qatar). As a preliminary study, an enhancement on the quality of the input/inventory data is imperative for obtaining a reliability of results. Nevertheless, the comparative analysis of different fuels and life stages provides valuable insights for stakeholders to develop effective policies and energy refueling plans for reducing life cycle GHG emissions from marine fuels. These findings could also enhance the current regulatory framework and provide meaningful lifecycle carbon footprints of marine fuels for energy importing countries. The study results also strongly suggest that default values of GHG emission for different countries relying on energy imports via international maritime transport should be further developed in consideration of the impact of regional differences, such as distance, from the importing country for successful arrival of LCA application on marine industry.

Advocacy coalitions and policy change for decarbonisation of international maritime transport: The case of FuelEU maritime

The legislators of the European Union (EU) have agreed on the FuelEU Maritime regulation, so far, the world's most ambitious pathway to maritime decarbonisation. FuelEU Maritime establishes a common EU regulatory framework to stimulate an increased share of renewable and low-carbon fuels in the fuel mix of international maritime transport. This article analyses, through the lens of the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the policy process leading to the political agreement on the FuelEU Maritime regulation. Core beliefs of two different advocacy coalitions including the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, EU Member States, the European Parliament and different IGs are identified like Transport & Environment and the European Community Shipping Association, as are the paths to policy change. The agreement on the FuelEU Maritime regulation follows the Paris Agreement and the following international discussions on how to curb the climate impact from shipping, the presentation of the ‘European Green Deal’ with a European Climate Law and the presentation of a broad package of EU climate, energy and transport legislation. In addition, it is a result of problem-solving bargaining between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.

Towards an equitable transition in the decarbonization of international maritime transport: Exemptions or carbon revenues?

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is considering the implementation of a carbon pricing instrument in international shipping. One of the most contentious point of debate on the implementation of carbon pricing in the sector concerns how to ensure an equitable transition. This article analyzes in-depth the advantages and disadvantages of two key potential approaches to address equity considerations in the design of a market-based-measure for international shipping: exemptions, and the strategic use of carbon revenues. This in-depth analysis has two main aims: i) it tests arguments presented in the literature on the relative benefits and risks of exemptions and carbon revenues use against up-to-date empirical research; ii) it adds to existing research by identifying benefits and drawbacks related to these two approaches that have so far been overlooked in the literature. The analysis reveals that an adequate use of carbon revenues is likely to deliver greater climate benefits than exemptions, both within maritime transport and beyond. The analysis also reveals that, while exemptions have some potential merit in addressing equity considerations, they also have various drawbacks. Overall, this research suggests that carbon revenue use should be the primary approach to addressing equity considerations in the decarbonization of international maritime transport. The article concludes by suggesting principles necessary to ensure that the distribution of carbon revenues supports the equitable transition.

Marine Policy

The volume of international maritime transport is continuously increasing due to worldwide economic growth and the sophistication of the global supply chain [...]

The Viability of the Term “Seaworthiness” Under the Hague-Visby Rules and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971

In the 20th century, there has different kind of difficulties regarding sea carriage between the shipper and the ship owner. To reduce such complexities the International Law Association has implemented ‘The Hague Rules 1921’ which helps to govern the rights and liabilities of shippers and ship-owners. However, British Parliament passed the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 in favor of crew and passengers. Seaworthiness is a principle used since the twelve century when it was a moral obligation of a ship owner to provide seaworthy ships to secure the carriage. In 1893 the U.S.A. enacted the Harter Act to protect the shippers by forbidding shipowners from limiting their fundamental liabilities regarding seaworthiness. There are three international conventions in operation governing international maritime transport: the Hague Rules, the Hague-Visby Rules, and the Hamburg Rules. This coursework is going to critically evaluate the viability of the term ‘seaworthy’ under HVR. According to HVR Art III Rule I, shippers have the minimum liability of ‘due diligence’ regarding loss or damage of the carriage goods in the sea. Where as common law maximizes the carrier’s liability. This essay will challenge the duty of the shipper or carrier depending on the ‘onus of proof,’ fire exception and perils of the sea as well as the practicability of seaworthiness according to Hague Visby Rule. However, it will also represent some supporting arguments for the liability of ship owners, carriers, and cargo owners by analyzing the term ‘due diligence.’

The analysis of the volume of production activity of seaports of the South of the Russian Federation and development prospects

The article deals with the trends in the development of seaports of the south of the Russian Federation. The study uses a comparative analysis of statistical data, generalization and grouping techniques. The analysis of the dynamics and structure of cargo handling volumes for 2020-2021 in the seaports of the Azov-Black Sea basin of the Russian Federation is carried out. The analysis of the volume of production activity of seaports showed that the Azov-Black Sea basin in 2021 occupies the largest share in the structure of the volume of foreign trade and transit sea cargo of the Russian Federation. The main transformative processes taking place in the field of international maritime transport under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the concept of global sustainable development are highlighted. The main ways of improving the port infrastructure based on the principles of "sustainable development", "lean manufacturing", "continuous improvement", and integrated digitalization of business processes are identified.

A fast feasibility tool for the assessment of fuel switch in the concept design of merchant ships

Due to the utmost importance of international maritime transport within the global economy, shipping contributes substantially to the emission of pollutants and Greenhouse Gases. Consequently, it is called to reduce its environmental impact, in accordance with the regulations that will enter into force in the next years. In this framework, innovative technologies can find fruitful applications in new constructions, but there is still a significant number of operating ships that needs to be technologically updated. Nonetheless, since these ships may be already in the middle of their service life, revamping operations must take into account the purpose of both reducing pollution and avoiding long and expensive interventions. The sustainability-oriented production is one of the most discussed topics and in this paper, the authors aim at describing the potential technologies and solutions to adapt operating ships to the future emission threshold limits. Then, they propose a tool for supporting energy conversion studies on ships. The tool was tested on an Oil Tanker selected as a case study; different layouts exploiting the use of liquefied natural gas, ammonia, and methanol as alternative fuels were analysed. The considered technological solutions were compared on the basis of both technical and economic aspects. Indeed, technological feasibility and economic viability represent the most important discriminants for the diffusion of such innovations on a wide scale and in particular for commercial vessels employed predominantly in long and international voyages.

РАЗВИТИЕ СЕВЕРНОГО МОРСКОГО ПУТИ КАК АЛЬТЕРНАТИВНОГО МАРШРУТА МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫХ ПЕРЕВОЗОК ГРУЗОВ

The article is devoted to the analysis of the sanctions impact on the transport and logistics support of the foreign economic activity of Russian companies and their foreign partners, as well as to the study of the current state and development of the Russian merchant fleet and the necessary port infrastructure, which should be involved in international maritime transport of goods. This study provides a brief analysis of trade in maritime transport services from the point of view of motivating Russian participants in foreign economic activity in changing the supply chains of foreign products, developing shipbuilding and providing competitive advantages for domestic shipowners. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that it is necessary to develop port infrastructure along the Northern Sea Route and increase the capabilities of Russian shipyards to build ice-class ships.

International Trade and Maritime Transport in North America: An Analysis of Productivity and Foreign Direct Investment

Port logistics activity is a vital element in foreign trade. In a globalized environment that demands greater competitiveness, trade agreements and synergies between trade blocs through maritime transport allow commercial development between economies. This research analyzes the relationship between international trade through seaports and investment in the countries that make up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) from 1997 to 2017. An econometric panel data model is used to measure the relationship between the variables, and unit root tests, cointegration tests (Kao and Fisher-Johansen tests), and heterogeneous causality tests (Hurlin and Dumitrescu test) are performed. The results show a positive relationship between trade and productivity, as well as a positive relationship between commerce and direct foreign investment; hence, an increase in investment causes a growth in international trade between Mexico, the United States, and Canada. JEL Codes: F40 Received: 18/04/2022. Accepted: 26/07/2022. Published: 01/12/2022.

ТРАНСФОРМАЦИЯ СТРАТЕГИЧЕСКИХ ПРИОРИТЕТОВ РАЗВИТИЯ ТРАНСПОРТНЫХ КАРКАСОВ ПРИГРАНИЧНЫХ РЕГИОНОВ ПОД ВЛИЯНИЕМ ГЕОПОЛИТИЧЕСКИХ И ГЕОЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИХ ИЗМЕНЕНИЙ

It is stated that, despite the long history of establishing long-term agreements and building transport routes between Europe and Russia, their prospects will decrease in the current unprecedented sanctions conditions, including due to the reorientation of international cargo flows to Asian countries and the replacement of many imported components with those produced in Russia. The purpose of the work is to assess and justify the need to transform the priorities for the development of transport frameworks in Russian regions that border Europe in new geopolitical and geo-economic conditions. The results of the study on the territory of the North-Western Federal District, the share of exports in some regions of which reaches more than 40% of the gross regional product, led to the conclusion that the ongoing changes will affect the prospects for the development of transport frameworks in a number of regions of the district. To the greatest extent, the processes of redirecting the transportation of manufactured products from the European direction to the domestic or Asian direction will affect such border regions as the Murmansk, Leningrad, Pskov regions and the Republic of Karelia. An analysis of the current development strategies of the listed regions showed that their plans do not contain a sufficient amount of measures and decisions aimed at the necessary transformation of traffic flows in the current conditions. In the strategic documents of the Murmansk region, emphasis is placed on creating a service core of international maritime transport on the basis of the Murmansk transport hub, but clearly little attention is paid to the formation of transport and logistics routes connecting the region with other regions of Russia. An analysis of the strategy of the Republic of Karelia showed that the projects for the development of transport infrastructure within the framework of international transport corridors are more developed in comparison with the all-Russian directions. Significant attention in the strategy of the Leningrad Region is paid to the development of passenger traffic and participation in federal transport projects without regional initiatives, which, however, should not prevent the region from providing new interregional transport flows if it is necessary to reorient export deliveries. The development strategy of the Pskov region is mainly aimed at the development of a transport and logistics infrastructure that ensures the growth of foreign trade flows and passenger traffic, paying insufficient attention to the establishment of domestic transport corridors. Thus, the ongoing geopolitical and geo-economic changes will entail the transformation of the transport framework both throughout the country and regions, which will certainly affect the spatial development of territories, and should become an obligatory subject of consideration in new interdisciplinary studies.

China’s Global Maritime Access: Alternatives to Overseas Military Bases in the Twenty-First Century

China lacks the network of foreign military bases that typically attends great-power expansion, yet its armed forces operate at an increasingly global scale. How has the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) managed this feat without a significant footprint on foreign soil? Why has Chinese leadership not (yet) established a network of bases to address security threats to China’s overseas interests? This article analyzes the structural constraints facing China’s military basing abroad and then examines the methods by which the PLA has nonetheless achieved significant global power-projection capability. It highlights the capacity provided by international maritime transport infrastructure owned and operated by Chinese firms as a viable—yet limited—means of securing national interests overseas with military power. The study demonstrates that the structural setting and historical sequence of China’s rise render foreign military bases relatively costly, incentivizing alternative modes of access and power projection in the maritime domain.

The Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem with Draft Limits

Over the past two decades, international maritime transport has been characterized by the advent of ever larger ships. This phenomenon is known as naval gigantism. If, on the one hand, naval gigantism allows to reduce transport costs by exploiting the economies of scale achievable by large ships, on the other hand, it implies a series of operational issues. Indeed, due to their large draft, such giant vessels are not allowed to enter small ports when fully or near-fully loaded, and in some cases, they cannot enter such small ports at all. In fact, their draft can strongly vary depending on the load on board. This implies restrictions for vessels in accessing ports, which impact not only at the strategical level on the fleet sizing problem, but also at the tactical/operational level, on the sequence of port visits among each route. In fact, given a set of ports that a ship has to visit, determining the optimal sequence of visits becomes a very challenging issue, as the sequence that gives the shortest travel distance (i.e., the smallest travel cost) may prove infeasible due to draft limit restrictions for accessing ports. Furthermore, the same sequence of ports, which may be infeasible for a large ship, may become viable if operated by a smaller ship. On the other hand, due to the economy of scale, travel costs per load unit are generally much lower for large ships than for small ones. Therefore, the draft restrictions also affect the fleet sizing problem. In this paper, we introduce the Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem with Draft Limits (HF-VRP-DL). We propose a mixed integer programming formulation and several valid inequalities to strengthen it. Since the mathematical model is able to handle only small-sized instances, to address larger instances we propose a Large Neighborhood Search matheuristic (LNS) and an Iterated Local Search matheuristic (ILS). Computational tests carried out show excellent performances of the proposed approach. Further analysis is provided on the impact of the instance layout on the computation time required to solve the problem to optimality.

The Moral Limits of Market-Based Mechanisms: An Application to the International Maritime Sector.

This paper questions the dominance of market-based mechanisms (MBMs) as the primary means of climate change mitigation. It argues that, not only they are unsuccessful on their own terms, but also they actually make the task more difficult by the unintended consequence of normalising the act of polluting and crowding out alternatives. The theoretical contribution of the paper is to draw a link between two bodies of literature. The first is the business ethics literature on the dominance of market-based rather than direct regulation, and the second is the literature on market ethics, particularly the work of Michael Sandel on how MBMs crowd out non-market norms. The empirical contribution is to use the international maritime transport sector to illustrate the way market-based regulation renders alternatives such as direct regulation and supply-side approaches invisible.

Indonesian Legal Perspectives on International Maritime Transport of Ultrahazardous Radioactive Materials at Sea

In 1992, the voyage of the Akatsuki Maru from France to Japan showed the practice in the sea transport of ultrahazardous radioactive materials. The voyage route was nearly around one-half of the planet earth and passed through many countries. Although many countries have openly protested, the vessel has continued because the ship has international navigational rights under UNCLOS 1982. This paper attempts to research international regulations concerning the legal regime governing safety in the sea transport of ultrahazardous radioactive materials in UNCLOS 1982, MARPOL 73/78, SOLAS 1974, PPNM 1980, SCTW 1978, and Indonesia’s national laws and regulations concerning this matter. This research uses normative approach and analysis descriptive methods that is based on international conventions, Indonesia’s national laws and regulations related to the safety of ultrahazardous radioactive materials shipment. The result of this research shows that the legal regime governing safety in the sea transport of ultrahazardous radioactive materials is not yet adequate, because it is partially regulated. However, Indonesia has attempted to harmonize international regulations and Indonesia’s national laws concerning the safety navigation of transport of ultrahazardous radioactive materials.

Economics of marinised offshore charging stations for electrifying the maritime sector

Electrification of international maritime transport, despite rapidly falling battery prices and improvements in battery technologies, remains constrained by midway charging, as the range of electric ocean-going vehicles is limited on a full charge. Before countries pour trillions of dollars of investment, this study is commissioned as the first attempt to investigate the economics of offshore marinised charging stations for enabling long-distance shipping by full-electric vessels. Three offshore power generation technologies, namely, wind, solar, and floating nuclear power plants, are compared to demonstrate the economics of offshore charging stations. Compared to conventional vessels using bunker fuels, full-electric vessels are cost competitive even under the assumed first-of-a-kind costs. Among the three offshore power sources compared in this study, a marinised charging station with floating nuclear power plant is shown to be the most cost-competitive. Despite the absence of a pilot project, the technoeconomic parameters as assumed in this study serve as important reference indicators for decision makers to consider when building an ecosystem for sustainable international shipping.

Performance Analysis of a Hybrid Electric Ship by Real-Time Verification

International maritime transport organizations are proposing regulatory actions and strategies aimed at decarbonizing the sector to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which currently constitute around 3% of the global total. Hybrid propulsion systems have significant potential in this respect, as a means of power-saving in ships. This paper describes a high-fidelity benchmark for hybrid-electric vessels, combining diesel generators and batteries. The benchmark consists of detailed models, the parameters of which are provided so that the models can be reproduced. The proposed hybrid-electric ship topology and control system was validated using real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulations on a Typhoon HIL402 platform. The results provide a detailed analysis of the operation of the different components under varying conditions, which should be useful in prototyping these kinds of systems. In addition, the response of the system was evaluated with regard to potential disturbances resulting from the control system’s operation. The results show the system performed correctly during these transitory events, with no undesirable responses.

СОВРЕМЕННОЕ СОСТОЯНИЕ ТОРГОВОГО СУДОХОДСТВА В РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ И ЕГО МЕСТО В МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫХ МОРСКИХ ПЕРЕВОЗКАХ ГРУЗОВ

The article is devoted to an overview of the current state of the Russian merchant fleet and the participation of Russian shipowners in international maritime transport of goods. This study provides a brief analysis of trade in maritime transport services from the point of view of the motivation of Russian participants in foreign economic activity in attracting the domestic fleet, developing shipbuilding and providing competitive advantages for domestic shipowners. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that the competitiveness of the industry depends on two main factors: the construction cost of ships in the first place, as well as ship designs that determine their market quality.