Large Container Research Articles

Інтеграція збутових технологій в діяльності підприємств сфери торгівлі та їх логістично-мережевого розвитку

Integration processes have positive potential for the stability and sustainable development of maritime trade entities. The integration processes of the maritime industry expand the opportunities of the subjects of their activities, creating conditions of market stability and the potential for development, taking into account modern trends. Each direction of the integration process has its own risks and advantages, but the orientation of companies towards a single goal of sustainable development, joining efforts in the direction of maximum satisfaction of customer needs, and obtaining a positive financial effect is the main advantage in solving issues of any level of complexity. The corresponding development is aimed at a technical and technological breakthrough in the maritime industry, which opens the way to reducing costs while obtaining the maximum results. This study analyzes the dynamics of the Drewry World Container Index, container throughput, and cargo throughput at the Shanghai Container Port, where it was found that the decrease in demand for sea transportation has made it possible to overcome huge backlogs, reduce waiting times in ports, and provide a revenue component related to economic crises. The world's best container lines from to 2020-2022 were studied, highlighting their development features, and the potential of the world's ten largest container lines for the period of the third quarter of 2023 was analyzed. It was determined that not all companies have positive changes in their development, maintaining leading positions in the corresponding rating. The possibilities of developing subjects for the integration processes of maritime trade are considered, focusing on Maersk as an example of vertical integration of container logistics and the Hong Kong Seaport Alliance – horizontal integration, where their main strategic directions of activity under sustainability conditions are presented. Based on the results of the research, ways of promoting further sustainable development of maritime trade are proposed under the conditions of expansion and improvement of technical and technological equipment and the influence of the governments of countries to accelerate the relevant process.

Paving the way for the future of Short Sea Shipping: The MOSES project

As the European Union (EU) has aimed for a modal shift from road transport to other more sustainable transport modes, such as rail or waterborne transport, Short Sea Shipping (SSS) has gained more attention. In order to provide an overview of SSS component in the European supply chain, the current status, established networks and legislative drivers for its promotion are analyzed, as well as relevant shortcomings and potential market opportunities. In parallel, the contribution of MOSES project to SSS is examined, through the development of innovative solutions aiming to address the vulnerabilities and strains related to the operation of large containerships and the engagement of port community stakeholders. Finally, associated business cases are presented, along with the expected results of MOSES project and the foreseen benefits towards SSS promotion and enhancement.

Estimating the effect of biofouling on ship shaft power based on sensor measurements

ABSTRACT Marine biofouling on a ship's hull and propeller increases the resistance of the ship moving through water and reduces the propulsion efficiency of the ship. Estimating the effect of fouling is difficult, as the biomass is rarely measured. In this paper, we present a new data-driven model for the total shaft power use of a large containership, in order to estimate the unobserved effect of fouling. Due to the limitations of both physical models and machine learning models, we develop a Bayesian generalized additive model for our purpose. We discuss issues of representative training data for the model. Further, we subset and subsample the data to a representative sample. Models are compared by out-of-sample predictive quality, physical appropriateness, and through autocorrelation of residuals. The Bayesian generalized additive model combined with computational inference using integrated nested Laplace approximations gives a robust estimate of the biofouling effect over time. It also allows a decomposition of the total shaft power use into effects of speed, weather, and other conditions. This model can be used to understand the effectiveness and timing of different hull and propeller treatments.

천수 효과가 대형 컨테이너선의 저항 성능에 미치는 영향에 관한 전산유체역학 해석 연구

It is easy for a ship passing through confined waters to be exposed in dangers of collisions and grounding due to different hydrodynamic responses. Since marine accidents can cause significant impacts on environments, global economy, and human lives, it is necessary to study the effect of shallow water on hydrodynamic performance of a ship. In this paper, the effect of water depth on resistance performance was investigated using CFD analysis as an initial study for improving navigational safety of a large container ship under confined waters. After a CFD set-up for deep water condition was validated and verified by comparing CFD analysis with model test results, CFD calculations according to ship speed and water depth were conducted. The features were investigated in terms of tendency and physical knowledge related to resistance performance. The increase of resistance due to shallow water effect was reviewed with empirical formula suggested from SWABE JIP. Speed loss due to shallow water effect was additionally reviewed from estimated delivered power according to ship speed and water depth.

АНАЛИЗ ДОСТАВКИ КОНТЕЙНЕРОВ В РОССИИ И ЗА РУБЕЖОМ

The article highlighted a list of the most advanced terminals in the world that handle containers. A comparative analysis of the volume of transshipment of containerized cargo by country was carried out. The analysis of the production capacities of the largest container terminals has been carried out. A study of the current competitiveness of Russian container terminals is provided.

Assessment Of Alternative Marine Fuels from Environmental, Technical, and Economic Perspectives Onboard Ultra Large Container Ship

Ship emissions reduction targets are pushing the maritime industry towards more sustainable and cleaner energy solutions. Marine fuels play a major role in this because of the emissions resulting from the combustion process associated with the prime mover(s), therefore, one of the technical solutions is to replace conventional marine fuels with cleaner fuels. Hence the aim of this study is to undertake environmental, technical, and economic analysis of alternative fuels to reduce the environmental footprint and lifetime costs of the long-distance shipping sector. As a case study, an ultra large container ship operating on the East-West trade route has been considered, and the analysis focus ed on natural gas and methanol as alternative fuels. This study adopted three approaches : environmental, technical, and economic methods to compare the alternative fuels with the conventional ones. The results showed that a dual-fuel engine operated by natural gas will reduce CO2, SOx, and NOx emissions by 28%, 98% and 85%, respectively , when compared with emission values for a diesel-powered engine. Furthermore, the reduction percentages reach 7%, 95% and 80% when using a dual-fuel engine operated by methanol, respectively. The proposed dual-fuel engines will improve the ship energy efficiency index by 26% and 7%, respectively. The study shows that methanol is the most economical alternative fuel for this container ship, replacing diesel with methanol, leads to a power system that is only 30% more expensive than the existing one. The analysis confirms that the cost of fuel has a major effect on the ship’s life cycle cost and that by reducing the fuel costs, the costs of the power system become more acceptable.

Research on the bow-flared slamming load identification method of a large container ship

The impact between the flared bow and the wave will cause a serious bow-flared slamming load. Many investigations have been carried out to predict the slamming load that the hull suffers under severe sea states. With the wide use of the hull structure response monitoring system, it will be of great significance to investigate the ship slamming problem if the slamming load can be identified by using the hull structure response monitoring data in the actual navigation environment. This paper integrates the seakeeping method, computational fluid dynamics method and finite element method to systematically simulate the bow-flared slamming pressure and the local structural response of a large container ship. Through comparative analysis of the dynamic response and static response of the bow-flared structure under extreme slamming load, it is found that the dynamic effect of the bow-flared structure is not obvious. Three different static load identification methods are used to identify the simple static load acting on the flared structure of the bow. By comparing the results of different identification methods, it is found that the TRM + L_curve method can realize the most accurate identification of the simple load. Further, the dynamic response process of the bow-flared structure is regarded as a quasi-static process, and the slamming pressure histories acting on the flared region can be identified. In general, the identification results of the bow-flared slamming pressures are in good agreement with the original slamming pressures, which preliminarily verifies the availability of the present method in the indirect monitoring of the bow-flared slamming load of the large container ship.

Dynamic Scheduling and Path Planning of Automated Guided Vehicles in Automatic Container Terminal

The uninterrupted operation of the quay crane (QC) ensures that the large container ship can depart port within lay-time, which effectively reduces the handling cost for the container terminal and ship owners. The QC waiting caused by automated guided vehicles (AGVs) delay in the uncertain environment can be alleviated by dynamic scheduling optimization. A dynamic scheduling process is introduced in this paper to solve the AGV scheduling and path planning problems, in which the scheduling scheme determines the starting and ending nodes of paths, and the choice of paths between nodes affects the scheduling of subse-quentAGVs. This work proposes a two-stage mixed integer optimization model to minimize the transportation cost of AGVs under the constraint of laytime. A dynamic optimization algorithm, including the improved rule-based heuristic algorithm and the integration of the Dijkstra algorithm and the Q-Learning algorithm, is designed to solve the optimal AGV scheduling and path schemes. A new conflict avoidance strategy based on graph theory is also proposed to reduce the probability of path conflicts between AGVs. Numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm over existing methods.

Variation in plant traits and phylogenetic structure associated with native and nonnative species in an industrialized flora

Industrialized sites are hotspots for nonnative species because of continuous anthropogenic disturbance and nonnative propagule rain resulting from hitchhikers exchanged through global trade. Investigating plant traits and the phylogenetic structure of species at initial ports of entry can contribute to our understanding of how species are introduced to, assembled into, and survive at industrialized sites, which can also inform how susceptible these sites are to nonnative plant invasions. To compare native and nonnative species, we asked three questions: 1) Are plant traits differentially associated with species nativity (native versus nonnative)? (2) Do these traits have phylogenetic signals? and (3) What is the phylogenetic structure of each trait for native and nonnative species? We collected, identified, and vouchered 170 angiosperm species within the Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah, Georgia, USA, the largest container terminal in North America. Species nativity was derived from the literature, as were traits of pollination syndrome, dispersal syndrome, duration, and growth habit. Pearson’s Chi-squared tests were used to determine if traits were differentially associated with species nativity. Phylogenetic signal, along with mean pairwise distance (MPD) and mean nearest taxon distance (MNTD), were used to assess the degree of phylogenetic relatedness of native and nonnative species with each trait. Nonnative species showed a significant association with multiple pollination syndromes. Native species were significantly associated with perennial duration and zoophily pollination syndrome. All traits possessed a phylogenetic signal, and the anemophily pollination syndrome was significantly clustered for both native and nonnative species. Still, most other traits differed in their phylogenetic structure pattern based on the nativity. Overall, findings suggest that the environment is filtering for native and nonnative species that possess traits promoting introduction and survival at this industrialized point-of-entry. They also suggest that nonnative species trait differences partition available niches that promote their introduction to the site. More research is needed at industrialized sites to inventory and monitor the floristic community, investigate the establishment and spread probabilities of nonnative species, and prevent and mitigate nonnative species risks and impacts.

Numerical Simulation on Dynamic Characteristics of Longitudinal Launching of Large Container Ships

The upsizing and rapid development of container ships has resulted in many large ships launching in small slipways due to the lagging of advanced equipment. In particular, the dynamic characteristics of these large ships in the longitudinal launching operation under restricted water are yet to be studied in detail. In this study, a ship model to simulate the longitudinal launching process of an 8500 TEU container ship was created based on the URANS method. The ship resistance in calm water was determined and validated against the experimental data. The influence of the stern appendage on the ship’s resistance and the flow field around the hull, with and without the aft poppet, under various water-depth-to-draught ratios was analyzed. A comparison of the ship’s resistance between the numerical and the experimental data shows that the difference is minimal, within 1.5%. The numerical results revealed that the aft poppets change the flow pattern and effectively reduce the pressure drag in the drifting stage. The shallow water causes a restraining effect on the ship. The proposed analytical approach in the numerical analysis, considering the aft poppet and the water depth, could provide a better simulation for a large ship’s longitudinal launching operation.

On the short-term and long-term acceleration failure probability of a container ship in irregular waves

ABSTRACT The evaluation of the acceleration response are required in ship intact stability analysis. The nondimensional response-amplitude operators of lateral acceleration in beam long-crested waves of a large container ship are compared by four calculation methods, three of which are the 5-DOF model in the time domain. The nonlinear restoring force and nonlinear diffraction force are considered. In irregular waves, the short-term and long-term acceleration failure probability of a large container ship are compared, and the influence of different frequency range integration of wave spectrum on the excessive acceleration failure probability is discussed. The results show that the lateral acceleration response obtained by the modification 2 method is the closest to the experimental value, and the short-term and long-term acceleration failure probability calculated by the modification 2 method is the largest among the prediction methods. In addition, increasing the integral range of wave spectra will increase the failure probability of acceleration.

Techno-Economic Analysis of NH3 Fuel Supply and Onboard Re-Liquefaction System for an NH3-Fueled Ocean-Going Large Container Ship

This study proposed the integrated design of an NH3 fuel supply system and a re-liquefaction system for an ocean-going NH3-fueled ship. The target ship was a 14,000 TEU large container ship traveling from Asia to Europe. The NH3 fuel supply system was developed to feed the liquid fuel at 40 °C and 80 bar and cope with the re-circulated fuel with the sealing oil. Its power consumptions and SECs ranged from 56.4 to 157.5 kW and from 0.0063 to 0.009 kWh/kg, respectively. An onboard re-liquefaction system with a vapor compression refrigeration cycle was also designed to liquefy the BOG from the fuel tank. The re-liquefaction system’s exergy efficiency and SEC were 34.71% and 0.224 kWh/kg, respectively. The equipment with the most exergy destruction was the heat exchangers, accounting for 60% of the total exergy destruction. NPV analysis found that it is recommended to introduce the re-liquefaction system to the target ship. At the NH3 price of USD 250/ton, the reasonable cost of the re-liquefaction system is less than USD 1 million. According to LCC, NH3 fuel is economically feasible if the carbon tax is more than USD 80/ton and the NH3 price is around USD 250/ton.

Effect of Container Volume and Planting Density on Ginger and Turmeric Growth and Yield

Domestic production of ginger (Zingiber officinale) and turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizomes is increasing. The objective of this study was to compare growth and rhizome yield of these crops using different container volumes and planting densities. Two greenhouse experiments that lasted 28 weeks each were conducted. In Expt. I, one sprouted rhizome of a single ginger variety (Bubba Blue) and four turmeric varieties (Hawaiian Red, BKK, White Mango, and Black) were transplanted into either small (1.5 gal) or large (13.3 gal) round containers. In Expt. II, either one or three sprouted rhizomes of two ginger varieties (Bubba Blue and Madonna) and two turmeric varieties (Indira Yellow and Hawaiian Red) were transplanted into either large (13.3 gal) or medium (3.9 gal) round containers. In Expt. I, there were an increase in plant growth and yield with increasing container volume, as both crops produced more than double the shoot, root, and rhizome fresh weight (FW) when grown in large compared with small containers. In Expt. II, rhizome yield of ginger was 44% higher in medium than large containers, and container volume did not affect yield in turmeric. Total dry weight (DW) was higher in plants grown in the larger container volume in both species in Expt. I, and turmeric only in Expt. II. However, ginger in Expt. II had an 18% higher plant DW in the medium compared with the large container. The higher density in Expt. II increased yield and biomass production per container compared with the lower density, regardless of variety and container volume. Overall, net revenue per container was higher in Expt. II than Expt. I because of the higher rhizome yield. In Expt. I, the higher yield of ginger compared with turmeric increased sales revenue of this species, despite a lower sales price per kilogram. In contrast, the higher yield of turmeric in Expt. II resulted in higher sales revenue and net revenue per container compared with ginger. Based on our results, medium containers could be used to minimize material and space costs for ginger and turmeric production under the conditions evaluated in our study.

Structural Brittle Crack Arrest Technique for Large Container Ship

Structural Brittle Crack Arrest Technique for Large Container Ship

Is slow steaming a viable option to meet the novel energy efficiency requirements for containerships?

The Marine Environment Protection Committee has introduced the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index, which will enter into force in 2023, to reduce emissions from existing ships. Since many existing ships do not comply with the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index requirements, certain mitigation measures must be applied to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In this study, an analysis of slow steaming for fulfilling these requirements is carried out using the example of containerships built until 2016 employing the analytic model. The required speed reduction for ships which do not meet the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index requirements is quantified, and the potential problems related to long-term sailing with reduced speed are highlighted. The relationship between ship speed and fuel consumption for Post Panamax, Post Panamax Plus, and Very Large Containership fleets is analysed. The obtained results highlight the significance of potential implementation issues of each mitigation measure to achieve sustainable growth of the maritime transport industry.

Quantifying the impact of pandemic lockdown policies on global port calls.

The recent experience of lockdowns during COVID-19 highlights the prolonged impact a pandemic could have on ports and the shipping industry. This paper uses port call data derived from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) reports from the world’s 30 largest container ports to quantify both the immediate and longer-term impact of national COVID-19 lockdown policies on global shipping flows. The analysis uses the Difference-in-Difference (DID) and combined regression discontinuity design (RDD)-DID models to represent the effects of lockdown policies. The combination of RDD and DID models is particularly effective because it can mitigate time trends in the data, e.g., the Chinese New Year effect on Chinese ports. This study further examines the potential shock propagation effects, namely, how lockdown policy in one country (i.e., China) can affect the number of port calls in other countries. We categorize ports in other countries into a high-connectivity (with Chinese ports) group and a low-connectivity group, using a proposed connectivity index with China derived from individual vessel trajectories obtained from the AIS data. The results provide a clearly measurable picture of the kinds of trade shocks and consequent pattern changes in port calls over time caused by responses to lockdown policies of varying levels of stringency. We further document the existence of significant shock propagation effects. As the risk of pandemics rises in the twenty-first century, these results can be used by policy makers to assess the potential impact of different levels of lockdown policy on the maritime industry and trade flows more broadly. Maritime players can also use findings such as these to manage their capacity during lockdowns more effectively and to respond more flexibly to changing demand in seaborne transportation.

Quantifying spatiotemporal dynamics of urban building and material metabolism by combining a random forest model and GIS-based material flow analysis

Understanding building metabolism is critical for guiding urban resource management and addressing challenges in urban sustainable development. Key attributes of buildings, including geolocation, footprint, height, and vintage, are crucial to characterizing spatiotemporal patterns of building metabolism. However, these attributes are usually challenging to obtain broadly and automatically, which obscures a comprehensive understanding and accurate assessment of urban metabolism. Moreover, the lack of a finer spatial pattern of these attributes shadows a spatially explicit characterization of material stock and flow in cities. In this study, we took Shenzhen—whose urbanization over the past three decades has been unprecedented in China and even around the world— has been taken as an example to develop a city-level building dataset based on a random-forest model and quantify the spatiotemporal patterns of material metabolism at relatively high spatial resolution (in 500 m × 500 m grids) by combing material flow analysis (MFA) with geographic information system (GIS). The results show that Shenzhen grew from a small town with 281.02 × 106 m3 of buildings in the 1990s to a mega-city with 3585.5 × 106 m3 of buildings in 2018 and expanded both outward and upward from downtown to suburban areas. The urban “weight” (material stock) increased from 92.69 Mt in the 1990s to 1667.8 Mt in 2018 and tended to be saturated, with an average growth rate of 9.5% per year. Spatially, the south-central areas were the largest container of material stocks and generated the most demolition waste. The spatially explicit maps of building three-dimensional (3-D) form and vintage provide detailed information for architectural conservation and could support the decision-making for urban renewal planning. The spatiotemporal patterns of in-use material stocks and potential generation of construction and demolition waste (CDW) provide a benchmark of environmental risk assessment and potential secondary resources to reduce “original” material consumption, which could help alter urban renewal to an environmental-friendly and sustainable trajectory.

Efficiency of DECA on ship emission and urban air quality: A case study of China port

As the largest container port in northern China, the prosperous maritime trade has not only promoted the economic development of Qingdao port but also brought serious pollution to the air quality. Ship emissions have caused a significant influence on public health. The establishment of the Domestic Emission Control Area (DECA) is a key policy to reduce ship emissions in recent years. It has been implemented in Qingdao Port from January 1, 2019. To evaluate the environmental benefits of the DECA policy, this study established a bottom-up ship emission inventory in 2020 for Qingdao based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. Changes in ship emissions and their impact on air quality in Qingdao are evaluated for the same study area before and after the implementation of DECA policy. The total emissions in all study area for SO2, NOX, PM10, PM2.5, HC and CO in 2020 are 8.16 × 103, 3.31 × 104, 1.25 × 103, 1.15 × 103, 1.18 × 103, 2.15 × 103 tons (t), respectively, reductions of 67.9%, 15.4%, 63.2%, 62.9%, 27.2% and 23.2% compared with 2016, and reductions of 73.42%, 29.97%, 69.54%, 69.26%, 39.71%, 36.44% compared with the scenario without DECA in 2020. The inter-month change and spatial distribution of ship emissions are similar in both years. Shinan District, Shibei District and Huangdao District are most affected by ship emissions, with the largest influence in summer. The ship's contribution to air pollution in each area had been significantly reduced, especially for SO2 and PM after DECA policy. However, the emission reduction of other pollutants is limited, so it is necessary to further enhance the DECA policy. Our research aims to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the environmental benefits for DECA policy, and provide support for the further improvement of the subsequent measures.

Life‐cycle energy and environmental emissions of cargo ships

AbstractMaritime shipping is under increasing pressure to alleviate its environmental impact. To this end, life‐cycle footprint accounting provides a foundation for taking targeted measures in the green transition of shipping. This study used the process‐based hybrid life‐cycle inventory (LCI) modeling approach to estimate the “cradle‐to‐propeller” footprint of ships, including primary energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, and sulfur dioxide emissions. We used the input–output LCI model to calculate the embodied energy and emissions associated with the material and fuel use of ship manufacturing. We used a bottom‐up emission model and global marine traffic data to estimate the operational footprint of different types of ships. Based on 382 cargo ships (including bulk carriers, container ships, and general cargo ships) constructed in mainland China between 2011 and 2015, we estimated that the embodied footprint accounted for <10% of the cradle‐to‐propeller footprint under the pre‐2019 policy scenario. In terms of life‐cycle energy intensity (MJ/nm/1000 deadweight tonnage [DWT]), the large bulk carrier (>100,000 DWT) establishes the lowest value (46), followed by the small (0–100,000 DWT) bulk carrier (96), the large container ship (133), the small container ship (196), and the small general cargo (238). The bulk carrier was identified as the most energy efficient among the three ship types, and ships with larger capacities (i.e., DWT) had higher energy efficiencies than ships with lower capacities. Our study provides a comprehensive understanding of the life‐cycle footprints of cargo ships, thus enabling better evidence‐based policymaking to transition the global marine‐shipping industry to a future of greener energy.

Onset of instabilities in rotating flows by direct numerical simulation

A rotating disk is the canonical experiment for measuring surface reaction rates in geochemical and electrochemical systems. Using the similarity solution for laminar flow around an infinite disk, the mass transfer coefficient can be simply related to the intrinsic reaction rate at the surface. However, measurements of mass transfer rates use a finite-size disk within a larger container of solution; here the flow is no longer strictly laminar, but there must always be some recirculation. Our interest was initially in the assumption of a uniform radial concentration field, how this breaks down near the perimeter of the disk, and what effect that might have on the measured mass transfer rates. However, our numerical simulations suggest that the flow around a finite-size disk becomes time dependent at Reynolds number ( $Re$ ) below 1000, which is much smaller than the typical values in mass-transfer measurements ( ${Re} \sim 10^4$ ). We observe the formation of coherent structures in the flow, which suggest a non-uniform mass transfer at the disk surface. The rotating-disk flow follows a similar sequence of instabilities to the Taylor–Couette flow: a centrifugal instability leading an axisymmetric, time-invariant flow, followed by a Hopf bifurcation to a time-periodic flow. To minimise the possibility that our results are a numerical artefact, we have also simulated the instability in the stationary boundary layer of a rotor–stator flow, comparing with self-similar solutions at low ${Re}$ and with spectral methods near the critical Reynolds number.