Maritime Safety Administration Research Articles

Public Sector Reforms and Service Quality Issues From the Perspective of the Small Island Developing States in the Pacific: A Case of Fiji

The purpose of this article is to compare service quality of the Fiji Islands Maritime Safety Administration (FIMSA) and the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF). Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from 200 Fiji maritime industry stakeholders. Research findings identified FIMSA and MSAF service delivery misalignment with customer expectations; customer’ expectations exceeded perceived customer service experiences of FIMSA and MSAF; and, perceived customer service experiences of MSAF were noticeably better than those of FIMSA.

A Novel Approach of Patrol Ship Configuration and Fleet Planning

Due to the lack of accurate and rational quantitative means as well as theoretical basis for patrol ship configuration, a patrol ship configuration model has been presented. To establish this configuration model, factors impacting patrol ship configuration were identified, mathematical relationships between these factors and patrol ship configuration amount were determined at the same time. Furthermore, the patrol ship configuration of Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration (GDMSA) had been taken as a case study. The result shows that GDMSA should be equipped with fewer patrol ships than it has currently.

Research on Vessel Trajectory Multi-Dimensional Compression Algorithm Based on Douglas-Peucker Theory

Currently, maritime safety administrations or shipping company had received a large number of vessel trajectory data from Automatic Identification System (AIS). In order to more efficiently carry out research of maritime traffic flow, ship behavior and maritime investigation, it is important to ensure the quality of the vessel trajectory data under compression condition. In classic Douglas-Peucker vector data compression algorithm, offset spatial distance of each point was the single factor in compression process. In order to overcome the shortcomings of classic Douglas-Peucker, a vessel trajectory multi-dimensional compression improved algorithm is proposed. In improved algorithm, the concept of single trajectory point importance which considers the point offset distance and other vessel handling factors, such as the vessel turning angle, speed variation, is proposed to as the compression index. Compared to classic Douglas-Peucker algorithm, experiment results show that the proposed multi-dimensional vessel trajectory compression improved algorithms can effectively retain characteristics of navigation.

Safety management performance assessment for Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) by using generalized belief rule base methodology

Waterway transportation plays an essential role for economic development. Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) shoulders the responsibility to maintain waterway transportation safety and efficiency and to avoid environmental contamination. This paper focuses on the assessment of MSA performance in term of safety with Belief Rule-base (BRB) methodology. A generalization of traditional BRB theories, which is called G-BRB, is introduced in this paper at first. G-BRB focuses on the fact that experts’ subjective standards on one quantitative attribute may be different. The qualitative data of safety and cost attributes from expert questionnaires is transformed into antecedent belief structure (A-BS), which can well reflect the distinctions among experts’ knowledge. The match degree and activation weight are then proposed to deal with A-BSs to make inference. After that, the proposed method is used to assess the performance of one MSA in China during the year 2007–2011. The factors used for MSA performance assessment are divided into two sub-groups and assessed separately. One group mainly focuses on safety situation and the other group pays attention to cost of maintaining safety. Then the outputs of the two sub-groups are used as the inputs for MSA performance assessment to get final results. After the comparison with experts knowledge (which is believed to be expert opinions of MSA performance), the results show that G-BRB can deal with experts’ different criteria on some factors successfully. The results also show that the proposed method performs well in terms of precision and reliability.

Study on Vessel Trajectories Database Manage System Based on Geodatabase

In order to monitor real-time vessel information to improve navigation safety,China's Maritime Safety Administration(MSA) has built the world's biggest Automatic Identification System(AIS) shore-based network,in which data such as ship position,name,purpose,course and speed are automatic collected 24 hours per day primarily in Chinese coastal waters.As a result,China is approaching the era of big data storage of vessel trajectories,which has brought great challenges to traditional moving objects data management systems.Beyond their basic functions of loading and displaying vessels' position records,an ideal vessel trajectories database should bring user more advance functions of analysis of ship tracking records by supporting spatio-temporal query and prediction of vessel movement.In this paper,we start with the character of vessel movement and Abstract the data model of vessel trajectories according to state-of-the-art technology of moving objects databases.Due to the characteristics of vessel trajectories data,such as changing frequently,wide cover range and mass datum,it is argued that current methods of trajectories storage still deserve much more research and improvements,especially for spatio-temporal query and geoprocessing support methods.Considering the role of time perspective,vessel trajectories are managed by three kind of time unit(sampling instant,stepping period and 24 hours) so as to built a three-level organizational framework.By compressing the volume of data and matching original vessel tracking message into spatio-temporal cube unit the retrieval efficiency increases significantly.It was also described how to streamline the acquisition,loading,filtering,display and analysis of raw AIS log files.This method is applied in handling daily mass vessel tracking records which are covering western Taiwan Strait.Experiences show that this model satisfied the requirements of application.The storage is reduced and the performance of spatio-temporal query is improved.Using ArcGIS platform of Geodatabase module,vessel trajectories' initial data model is easy to revised,expanded and integrated with various relational base-map data.Furthermore,it is convenient to apply variable ArcGIS geoprocessing tools to obtain customize demand,such as daily hot spot activities of fishing vessel.By generating these synthesized products our solutions would support the ocean planning community to better understand marine transportation patterns and potential use conflicts between vessels and other activities.

Risk Evaluation for Shipwreck Environmental Pollution Based on AHP- Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation

o prevent further environmental pollution hazards after the accident of vessel sinking, shipwreck environmental pollution risk evaluation model was established based on analytic hierarchy process(AHP)-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Based on systems engineering ideas, risk system consisted of shipwreck-cargo-shipwreck area-environment was established. Through statistical analysis of historical accidents and summary of expert experience, shipwreck risk evaluation indices system and the classification standards for indices were determined and the weight of each index was determined. The shipwreck environmental pollution risk evaluation model effectively improved our country’s shipwreck risk assessment mechanisms, and scientific management of shipwreck by maritime safety administration were achieved.

Application of Grid Management to Traffic Risk Control in China's Coastal Waters

Grid is one of the most important information technologies in recently years, and the theory of grid management has been applied in a variety of industries. Based on the advantages of grid management, it is applied to traffic risk management in coastal and harbor waters, and keys to implementation of grid management are discussed in detail. Finally, case study of Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) Fujian is illustrated, showing the grid-based management mode, mechanism, procedures, contents and measures. Thus, accident frequency in the area is reduced from 0.0741% of 2006 to 0.0485% of 2008.

A New Vocational Education Model

In order to ease the contradiction between the more and more need with each passing day of seafarers in the talented-person service market and delayed high-ranked seafarers being well-trained, and meanwhile, to provide the vast graduates one more opportunity to get a job who had not accepted relevant marine training and education, a new vocational education mode, which is high-rank seafarer vocational education training for non-marine major graduates, was proposed by Maritime Safety Administration of China. This paper will fully describe and comprehensively analyse this new vocational education mode， combining the characteristics of college graduates with non-marine education and training， The differences and similarities in aspect of educational background，age and English level, etc between non-marine major graduates and marine major graduates will be analysed and the concrete high rank seafarer vocational education mode for non-marine major graduates was proposed in this paper.

Improvement of hydrodynamic forecasting of Danish waters: impact of low-frequency North Atlantic barotropic variations

The Danish Maritime Safety Administration (DaMSA) provides forecast of elevations, currents, and other parameters to the maritime society. Accurate and reliable predictions are important to help navigate Danish waters in a safe manner, and the forecasts are routinely used by the Vessel Traffic Services in the Great Belt and the Sound. The DaMSA model setup includes three nested models, with coarse resolution in the North Atlantic and increasing to 600 m in the Belt Sea and South West Baltic. Observations of some special events in late 2009 drew attention to a possible relation between Atlantic-scale surge events and small-scale currents in the Danish Straits. During the special event with large-scale surge, the observed southward moving current in the Danish Straits was 0.5–2.0 m/s for several days, while the operational model showed a much smaller response. As a consequence, the entire DaMSA model complex was revised during 2010. Multi-annual reruns have showed that with the updated model, the explained variance of the current increases from 67% to 88%.

ASSESSING THE INCREASING RISK OF MARINE OIL POLLUTION SPILLS IN CHINA

ABSTRACT As the Chinese economy continues to develop at a rapid pace, shipping has also increased significantly over recent years. This rise in traffic brings a greater threat of oil pollution from vessels. Assessing the risk of oil spills can be a complex process, yet by modelling and analysing the amount of oil transported around coastal areas during 2001 and 2005, using data obtained from Lloyds’ Marine Intelligence Unit (LMIU) and comparing it with the historical data from ITOPF'S tanker spills database, an improved representation of risk can be made. Using a GIS platform to graphically visualise this information and integrate further datasets regarding local sensitivities we can understand the risk more thoroughly and present the aggregated information more effectively. In response to the increased risk experienced in and around Chinese waters, ITOPF and other international organisations are working to build awareness of the risks and develop links with key parties through training courses and seminars. By working closely with the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) and with the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP), a regional UNEP initiative, the threat of future incidents can be minimised and handled in a rational manner. This paper looks at the risks associated with increased traffic and developments taking place to meet the threat of marine oil spills in Chinese waters.

An Emission Inventory of Marine Vessels in Shanghai in 2003

We developed an air pollutant emission inventory for marine vessels in the Shanghai Port in 2003. We estimated emissions under cruising and maneuvering conditions based on two categories of vessels: (1) vessels in the Outer Port, which enter the area following notification of the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration, a division of the Ministry of Communications of P.R. China; and (2) vessels in internal waterways, which enter those waters following notification of the local Port Administration Centers. Vessels in the Outer Port consist of three subcategories: (1) international vessels that are engaged in foreign commerce; (2) domestic vessels traveling along the downstream portion of the Huangpu River; and (3) domestic vessels traveling along the coast. We also estimate emissions from vessels over 1000 DWT operating under hotelling conditions in the Outer Port. In 2003, the total number of calls was approximately 1.3 million, of which 57% is attributed to vessels in internal waterways and 43% to vessels in the Outer Port. Total marine emissions for NOx, SO2, PM, HC, and CO2 in 2003 are estimated to be 58,160, 51,180, 6960, 4560, and 3,012,800 tons, respectively. Emissions are allocated to 1 km x 1 km grid cells for the 129 km x 102 km Shanghai Port study domain.