Merchant Ships Research Articles

The Impacts of the Legal Framework Governing Ship Registration in Tanzania

The ship registration system in the United Republic of Tanzania is a vital component of the nation's maritime infrastructure, playing a key role in ensuring compliance with national and international maritime laws. This research provides A Case Study of The Effectiveness of the Ship Registration System: Examining the Legal Framework and Administrative Procedures of The United Republic of Tanzania. The mixed-methods approach combined qualitative and quantitative data collection. The findings were to assess the impacts of the legal framework governing ship registration in Tanzania. The study observed that, the maritime sector of the United Republic of Tanzania (URT) operates under a complex legal framework that is divided between two distinct legal systems, each with its own governing authority. This duality is primarily reflected in the Merchant Shipping Act of 2003 and the Merchant Transport Act of 2006, which cater to the maritime needs of Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar, respectively. The Merchant Shipping Act of 2003 is designed to be applicable across the entire URT, encompassing both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar. This is explicitly stated in Section 3 (1) of the Act, which asserts that the provisions apply to all Tanzanian ships, irrespective of their geographical location.

Deep sediment heterogeneity inferred using very low-frequency features from merchant shipsa).

The very low-frequency noise from merchant ships provides a good broadband sound source to study the deep layers of the seabed. The nested striations that characterize ship time-frequency spectrograms contain unique acoustic features corresponding to where the waveguide invariant β becomes infinite. In this dataset, these features occur at frequencies between 20 and 80 Hz, where pairs of modal group velocities become equal. The goal of this study is to identify these β = ∞ frequencies in ship noise spectrograms and use them to perform statistical inference for the deep layer sound speeds and thicknesses in the New England Mudpatch for a larger number of ships and acoustic arrays over a larger geographical region than previously studied. Marginal probability distributions of the data indicate that using singular points for a feature-based inversion yields an estimate of the sound speed and a limiting value for the thickness of the first deep layer. Heterogeneity is examined by correlating spatial variability of the deep layer sound speeds with ship tracks.

The ‘Prince Royal of Denmark’s Yacht’: A career in royal, naval and whaling service, 1785–1837

Following the French Revolutionary, American and Napoleonic wars between 1793 and 1815, many smaller British warships were sold to merchant ship owners directly or to shipyards for breaking or resale. Identifying changes from naval to commercial employment is not always straightforward and the availability or accuracy of a vessel’s history not always assured. One yacht built at Deptford in 1785 with Danish royal connections and then a British naval career presents such questions. Sold out of naval service in 1818, ostensibly for breaking, it is argued that the former yacht was not broken up but rebuilt and resold to become a whaleship from 1820 to about 1837. The vessel provides an unusual case study of a transition from royal to naval service and then into mercantile employment.

Manual steering and robust adaptive constrained control of ship autopilot

This study proposes two schemes for ship autopilot: the first is a follow-up mode, applying manual dynamics to the state-space-based underactuated large merchant ship (ULMS) model, using a steering wheel and joystick to emulate manual operation; the second is a Nav mode developed by path-following control. In this mode, a novel path-following control strategy is developed for ULMS with input saturation and delay, two novel auxiliary systems are employed to stabilize the plant with input constraints. The input delay auxiliary system (IDAS) effectively tackles the design challenges posed by input delay, while the input saturation auxiliary system (ISAS) is dedicated to generating actual control inputs under the constraint of saturation. Furthermore, the dynamic surface control (DSC) technique and the roust neural damping technique are introduced to mitigate the computational burden and simplify the controller structure, thereby enhancing the efficiency and performance of the entire control system. Lyapunov stability analysis proves the ship motion system is semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB). Finally, the effectiveness of these two schemes is verified through turning experiment, comparative simulations and a semi-physical simulation platform that integrates physical models with computer simulation technology.

Advanced Human Reliability Analysis Approach for Ship Convoy Operations via a Model of IDAC and DBN: A Case from Ice-Covered Waters

The melting of Arctic ice has facilitated the successful navigation of merchant ships through the Arctic route, often requiring icebreakers for assistance. To reduce the risk of accidents between merchant vessels and icebreakers stemming from human errors during operations, this paper introduces an enhanced human reliability assessment approach. This method utilizes the Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN) model, integrated with the information, decision, and action in crew context (IDAC) framework. First, a qualitative analysis of crew maneuvering behavior in scenarios involving a collision with the preceding vessel during icebreaker assistance is conducted using the IDAC model. Second, the D–S evidence theory and cloud models are integrated to process multi-source subjective data. Finally, the human error probability of crew members is quantified using the DBN. The research results indicate that during convoy operations, the maximum probability that the officer on watch (OOW) chooses an incorrect deceleration strategy is 8.259×10−2 and the collision probability is 4.129×10−3. Furthermore, this study also found that the factors of Team Effectiveness and Knowledge/Abilities during convoy operations have the greatest impact on collision occurrence. This research provides important guidance and recommendations for the safe navigation of merchant ships in the Arctic waters. By reducing human errors and adopting appropriate preventive measures, the risk of collisions between merchant ships and icebreakers can be significantly decreased.

Определение правовой природы и соотношения чартера и фрахтования через сравнительное исследование терминологии

The article presents the results of a scientific analysis of the legal nature of contracts related to maritime transport. The necessity of including precise terminology and definitions related to maritime transport in the Russian Federation's Merchant Shipping Code is emphasized, as well as the need to establish specific terms for each type of contract.

Koopmans, Dantzig, and the Wartime Origins of Activity Analysis

Abstract In the introduction to Activity Analysis of Production and Allocation (Cowles Monograph No. 13), Tjalling C. Koopmans recalled that he developed the model of his “Optimal Utilization of the Transportation System” (in the proceedings of 1947 International Statistical Congress, which were reissued as an Econometrica supplement, 1949) “under the stimulation of statistical work for the Combined Shipping Adjustment Board, the British-American board dealing with merchant shipping problems during the second world war.” Similarly, the contributions of George B. Dantzig and Marshall K. Wood to Cowles Monograph No. 13 (two revised journal articles and five new chapters) emerged from wartime work for the US Army Air Force and postwar work for the Department of the Air Force. This article examines the context and consequences of the wartime roots of these foundational contributions to activity analysis and linear programming, with particular attention to Koopmans's 1942 memorandum for the Combined Shipping Adjustment Board on “Exchange Ratios between Cargoes on Various Routes” (first published in his Scientific Papers, 1970).

THE COMPLEX OF FINDS FROM THE EXCAVATIONS IN TYRAS IN 1978. CHERNYAKHIV PERIOD OF THE ANCIENT CITY

Studies of ancient Tyras (North-Western Pontic region) have shown that the late Roman period of the city was associated with the population of the Chernyakhiv culture, a significant part of which were Germanic Goths. But the importance of this population in the city’s history has not been studied sufficiently, so new publications of finds should be of great interest. During the excavation in 1978 three vessels were discovered which were located probably in a small light building. These are a gray-clay wheel-made mug and also a handmade jug and bowl. The mug is a typical product of Chernyakhiv culture, and the jug is a primitive imitation of Roman forms. As for the bowl, it is difficult to find analogies for it. This assemblage belongs to the latest layer of ancient Tyras which can be framed by the second half of the 3rd — early 5th century AD. Several other objects belong to the same period, as well as some Chernyakhiv finds from the cultural layer. These are fibulae (early items of them are dated to the middle — late 3rd century), axe-shaped pendants, combs made of deer horn. The types of amphorae of the late Roman period, known in Tyras, are also common on the Chernyakhiv settlements. Table and kitchen gray vessels clearly represent the types of dishes common throughout the territory of the Chernyakhiv culture. Occasionally there are fragments of vessels typical for the Wielbark (Gothic) culture. In the cultural layers of the Roman Tyras also the earlier group of gray-clay tableware presents, which is typologically different from the Chernyakhiv ware. Local workshops produced it (as well as red-clay products) until the mid-3rd century AD, when the activity of Greco-Roman craftsmen ceased. Later the new inhabitants of Tyras brought their own pottery. An important difference between the production technology of Greco-Roman and Chernyakhiv potters was the use of a fast potter’s wheel in the first case, and a slow wheel in the second one. The barbaric slow wheel has not been compared favorably with a fast one but the Chernihiv’s people have not the fast wheel. We propose an approximate reconstruction of the history of Tyras in the late Roman period. The military victories of the barbarians (the Gothic Wars of 238—270) caused the evacuation (between 248 and 253) of the Roman garrison and, probably, the inhabitants of the city. The period of the history of Tyras as an ancient city was over, however the merchant ships came to its port even during wars. To continue mutually beneficial trade (from the mid-3rd century and especially in the second half of the 4th century, when the peak of imports is observed) there was a fairly small number of «Chernyakhiv residents» in the destroyed city. Their activity might have been seasonal and limited to a few months of navigation per year. They handled the ships and transferred the goods to «their» merchants for resale in the depths of Chernyakhiv territory. These people built new houses among the ruins but their standard of living did not reach the level of Chernyakhiv rural settlements. Judging by the finds, they had a small number of wheel-made ceramics and replaced the shortage of ware by primitive handmade products. Summarizing the available materials, we can conclude the following. The last phase of ancient Tyras, known as the «post-Gothic» period, should be more reasonably called the «Chernyakhiv period». In the mid-3rd century Tyras lost the signs of a city, and till the early 5th century became a Chernyakhiv trade settlement.

Determining the Best Work Behaviour of the Laboratory Head Using The Technique For Order Of Preference By Similarity To The Ideal Solution

Vocational education is in high demand because it prepares students to be job-ready. In learning, it is more about work practices, internships, and in the laboratory than theory in class. Therefore, the existence of laboratories is essential in vocational schools. The research was conducted at the maritime school of SMK Putera Samodra, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, using the quantitative approach of the TOPSIS method to determine the best work behaviour performance from the head of the laboratory. Work behaviour assessment criteria include service orientation, integrity, commitment, discipline, and cooperation. According to the assessment results by the principal and 31 colleagues, the best work behaviour is that of the head of the merchant ship engineering laboratory. Overall, the best work behaviour analysis results can have a positive impact, such as recognition, improved leadership practices, and enhanced performance in all laboratories in vocational schools. Other potential implications of work behaviour research results for schools can be developing leadership with the best strategies, identifying areas for improvement, allocating more resources to laboratories, and the positive effects of leadership qualities on vocational schools.

Implied threats of the Red Sea crisis to global maritime transport: amplified carbon emissions and possible carbon pricing dysfunction

Recent military acts in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are forcing merchant ships to reroute, thereby driving up international shipping rates, prolonging delivery dates, and causing additional greenhouse gas emissions. Utilizing the European Union (EU) Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification emissions database and real time Automatic Identification System data, this study conducted frequency analysis and causative investigation on container ships circumnavigating the Cape of Good Hope. The findings indicate that the current policy framework under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) poses a higher risk of carbon leakage, particularly for medium and small-sized container ships, thereby undermining the effectiveness of the nascent EU maritime carbon pricing. If the crisis continues, combined with anticipated tighter emission regulations, this risk is expected to escalate. International maritime policy administrators should make timely adjustments in response to the chain reactions caused by war, enhancing the robustness of cross-regional carbon pricing.

A revised radiocarbon calibration curve 350-250 BCE impacts high-precision dating of the Kyrenia Ship.

The Kyrenia Ship, found off the north coast of Cyprus, is a key vessel in the history of scientific underwater excavations and in the history of Greek shipbuilding. The first volume of the site's final publication appeared in 2023 and provides detailed archaeological information tightly constraining the dating of the ship. A very specific date range is proposed: ca. 294-290 BCE, but is based on a less than certain reading of one coin recovered from the ship. While there is clear benefit to finding high-precision dates for the Kyrenia Ship and its rich assemblage using independent scientific dating (combined with Bayesian chronological modeling), efforts to do so proved more challenging and complex than initially anticipated. Strikingly, extensive radiocarbon dating on both wooden materials from the ship and on short-lived contents from the final use of the ship fail to offer dates using the IntCal20 calibration curve-the current Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon calibration curve at the time of writing-that correspond with the archaeological constraints. The issue rests with a segment of IntCal20 ca. 350-250 BCE reliant on legacy pre-AMS radiocarbon data. We therefore measured new known-age tree-ring samples 350-250 BCE, and, integrating another series of new known-age tree-ring data, we obtained a redefined and more accurate calibration record for the period 433-250 BCE. These new data permit a satisfactory dating solution for the ship and may even indicate a date that is a (very) few years more recent than current estimations. These new data in addition confirm and only very slightly modify the dating recently published for the Mazotos ship, another Greek merchant ship from the southern coast of Cyprus. Our work further investigated whether ship wood samples impregnated with a common preservative, polyethylene glycol (PEG), can be cleaned successfully, including a known-age test.

Exploring the efficiency of a source-level model to predict hydrophone-based received noise levels of the St. Lawrence Estuary’s merchant fleet

The Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation (ECHO) source-level model was statistically derived using nearly 10,000 vessel transits along Canada’s western coast. Before using this model in other areas, it is important to examine its efficiency in new environments and on other fleets. In this work, hydrophone-based acoustic recordings collected between August 3rd and September 16th of 2022 within the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park were used to investigate the applicability of the ECHO source-level model to Canada’s eastern fleet. Opportunistic transits of 71 merchant ships near (i.e., ≲3 km) the hydrophone were obtained. As an attempt to reduce computing times in the context of agent-based modeling, the reliability of the proposed analytic seabed critical angle (SCA) method for propagation losses calculations was examined and compared to robust, although time-consuming, numerical methods. Results generally show that the combination of the ECHO source-level model and our best estimates for propagation losses calculations does allow to reliably predict the acoustic footprint of the radiated noise levels by merchant ships in the acoustic module of the Marine Mammal and Maritime Traffic Simulator (3MTSim). However, computational gains could be marginal at best due to the analytic SCA method quickly becoming inconsistent with the numerical approach in range-dependent scenarios that often translate into long-range encounters.

Assessment of navigators’ ergonomic awareness and working conditions on navigation bridges

Background: Merchant ships, despite huge technological progress, are still operated by qualified navigators. According to ergonomics principles, human is a part of the whole system and is affected by the surrounding environment. Objective: The purpose of the paper was to assess the ergonomic awareness of professional navigators, to understand their expectations towards navigation bridges and to check if they obtain enough support from their workplace. Methods: A special questionnaire was developed and 200 responses were obtained from seafarers with license of Officer Of the Watch or higher. Statistical analysis were carried out to find out relationships and differences between answers and groups of respondents. Results: Improper ergonomics and less than optimal working conditions were not isolated incidents and occurred to be rather common problem of the industry. The results suggest that ergonomic awareness is at relatively high level, however this knowledge is frequently not used in practice. Conclusions: Poor design and lack of proper ergonomics training might contribute to commonly experienced signs of fatigue, pain episodes and therefore reduced performance of seafarers. Navigators find ergonomics important, however navigation bridges often do not meet ergonomics and comfort standards, therefore there is still a room for improvement in this area.

Spatial-Temporal Ship Pollution Distribution Exploitation and Harbor Environmental Impact Analysis via Large-Scale AIS Data

Ship pollution emissions have attracted increasing attention in the maritime field due to the massive growth of maritime traffic activities. It is important to identify the ship emissions (SEs) magnitude and corresponding spatial and temporal distributions for the purposes of developing appropriate strategies to mitigate environment pollution. The aim of this study was to estimate ship pollution emissions with various typical merchant ship types under different sailing conditions. We estimated the emission variation with a ship traffic emission assessment model (STEAM2), and then the ship pollution emission distribution was further visualized using ArcGIS. We collected data from the automatic identification system (AIS) for ships in New York Harbor and further analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution of pollutant emissions from ships. The experimental results demonstrate that the ship pollutant emission volume in the New York Harbor area in 2022 was 3340 t, while the pollution in terms of CO, SO2, CXHX, PM10, NOX, and PM2.5 was 136, 1421, 66, 185, 1384, and 148 t, respectively. The overall SEs from container ships, passenger ships, and tankers account for a large amount of pollution discharge. The pollutant emissions of container ships are significantly greater than that of their counterparts. Moreover, the spatiotemporal distributions of ship pollutant discharge can vary significantly among different ship types and sailing conditions.

International Legal Regulation of Activities of States in the Great Mediterranean Region

INTRODUCTION. In modern international and domestic maritime law, regional fragmentation of legal regulation is becoming more and more noticeable, which, in turn, objectifies and actualizes the formation of complex arrays of legal norms, united by the consistency of the political and legal positions of the contracting states that have national interests in the relevant water area, primarily-coastal states extending their state sovereignty to certain areas of maritime space. In this context, the Greater Mediterranean region should be considered as one of the most important in the world merchant shipping and naval support of international peace and security, as a basin that optimally connects the Atlantic and Indian Oceans from the point of view of logistics, which requires the formation of an appropriate scientific and methodological basis for full implementation of the fundamental principle of international cooperation in the maritime policy of the states of the region.MATERIALS AND METHODS. To substantiate the expediency of singling out the Greater Mediterranean as an independent object of legal regulation, general and special international legal treaties, the domestic legislation of the Mediterranean states, as well as political and legal documents indicating the existence of certain disputes and situations around certain zones of the Mediterranean water area, primarily – in the Eastern Mediterranean region. To obtain reliable and substantiated results of the study, methods of scientific knowledge were used: formal-legal, logical, historical-legal, system-structural analysis. Thus, the formal legal method made it possible to clarify the content and meaning of international legal treaties concluded at different times and aimed at regulating public relations in the maritime sphere. The logical method made it possible to substantiate the need for comprehensive international cooperation of the coastal states of the Greater Mediterranean. With the help of the historical and legal method, an overview was made of both the world, Soviet and Russian practice of applying the norms of domestic and international law on issues related to ensuring international law and order in the Greater Mediterranean region. The logical method made it possible to build the necessary connections and patterns of development of international legal regulation in the Greater Mediterranean region in the general context of ongoing universal and regional political and legal processes and transformations. Using the method of system-structural analysis, it was possible to display a holistic picture of law-making and law enforcement of the Mediterranean states, aimed at the formation of unified principles and norms for the exercise of the sovereign rights of coastal states.RESEARCH RESULTS. International maritime merchant shipping seems to be a very complex area of public relations with a large number of entities that have different legal status and, accordingly, are related to each other in a very different way.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. This work is devoted to the study of the main trends in the development of the Greater Mediterranean region in terms of formulating key international legal guidelines and rules of conduct for its constituent states. The object of the study is the legal relations carried out in the maritime spaces of the Greater Mediterranean as one of the key regions, which, along with its economic and political significance, is an integral zone for the implementation of the national interests of the Russian Federation, extending to the entire World Ocean.

Human and organizational factors analysis of collision accidents between merchant ships and fishing vessels based on HFACS-BN model

Collision accidents between merchant ships and fishing vessels have attracted much attention owing to the relatively high frequency and serious consequences, at least in China. This paper proposes a hybrid methodology incorporating the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System and Bayesian networks to investigate the human and organizational factors of collision accidents between merchant ships and fishing vessels. The kernel of this model is to identify human and organizational factors using a modified Human Factors Analysis and Classification System framework based on 443 historical collision accidents from 2013 to 2023 in China, to transform relationships of five levels in the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System to the graphical structure of the Bayesian network and to apply Expectation Maximization algorithm for parameter learning to obtain the parameters of the Bayesian network. 56 relevant human and organizational factors are identified, including 11 special influencing factors related to collisions between merchant ships and fishing vessels. The proposed model is validated using two axioms, key influencing factors are identified through sensitivity analysis, and development paths of collision accidents are derived through the strength of influence analysis. Consequently, the findings of this study provide valuable insights for the Maritime Administration, fisheries supervisory agencies, shipping companies, fishermen, and other stakeholders in formulating effective strategies to prevent collision accidents between merchant ships and fishing vessels.

Regional differences in the air–sea CO2 flux between 3 and 14°S in the south-western tropical Atlantic

Context The fugacity of surface-seawater CO2 (fCO2sw) and the sea–air CO2 fluxes in the south-western tropical Atlantic (SWTA) were studied to increase the knowledge about the carbon cycle in this region. Aims This paper aims to describe the distribution of fCO2sw in SWTA. Methods The fCO2sw was measured from 2008 to 2020 by volunteer merchant ships with an onboard system that measures pCO2 while the vessels were underway. Key results Higher values occurred north of 8°S than in the region south of 8°S. The north is a strong source of CO2 for the atmosphere, with an annual mean value of 3.14 ± 0.52 mmol m−2 day−1. The south is a weaker source of CO2, with an annual average of 0.93 ± 0.90 mmol m−2 day−1. In the months of July and August, a weak sink of CO2 was observed, with a mean of −0.55 mmol m−2 day−1. Conclusions and implications The differences between these two regions are explained by the origin of the surface-water masses encountered along the ship track. The central branch of the South Equatorial Current (SEC) transports surface water, with a higher CO2 concentration and lower salinity, north of 8°S, whereas the surface waters between 8 and 14°S come from the southern branch of the SEC. The intertropical convergence zone is another physical process influencing the region north of 8°S.

Seafarers’ attitudes and chances to improve the nutrition on merchant ships from the crews’ and cooks’ perspective

BackgroundSeafarers’ diets are often high in fat, sugar and calories, thus contributing to an increased risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. The multitude of obstacles to healthy eating in the on-board environment on merchant ships makes it essential to find new approaches for health promotion. This study explored seafarers’ attitudes, the status quo of support measures and chances to improve nutrition on merchant ships from the perspective of crews and cooks.MethodsIn the course of the EU-funded project “e-healthy ship”, European and Southeast Asian seafarers (N = 810) and ship cooks (N = 62) were examined by using two questionnaires on 68 ships of two German shipping companies.ResultsAlmost all seafarers (98.8%) considered a healthy diet important for their well-being and the majority of seafarers reported being open-minded about changing their eating habits (88.4%). However, European seafarers were less likely to respond that they are willing to eat less meat [OR 0.11; 95%CI (0.07–0.17); p < .001], more vegetables [OR 0.10; 95%CI (0.02–0.49); p = .005] and more fruits [OR 0.11; 95%CI (0.02–0.61); p = .011] than their Southeast Asian colleagues. On the one hand, 82.3% of the ship cooks reported having taken part in at least one cooking course organized by their employer (1: 33.9%, 2: 25.8%, 3: 14.5%, 4 or more: 8.1%), on the other hand, slightly above half stated that the last of these courses had taken place more than 2 years ago. Furthermore, the ship cooks showed a positive attitude towards the use of a tablet-based digital platform that supports the ship cooks in daily and complex tasks (> 85% agreement).ConclusionsTo improve nutrition on board merchant ships, various parameters need to be adjusted, such as ensuring a demand-oriented food supply on board or supporting seafarers’ healthy food choices through target group-specific nutrition education. Ship cooks would be able to play a crucial role if they receive support. The development of a tablet-based digital platform that supports the ship cooks in their daily tasks, offers training and empowers them to implement health-promoting measures themselves seems to be an accepted and promising approach.

Inference of source signatures of merchant ships in shallow ocean environmentsa).

An ocean acoustics experiment in 2017 near a shipping lane on the New England continental shelf in about 75 m of water provided an opportunity to evaluate a methodology to extract source signatures of merchant ships in a bottom-limited environment. The data of interest are the received acoustic levels during approximately 20 min time intervals centered at the closest position of approach (CPA) time for each channel on two 16-element vertical line arrays. At the CPA ranges, the received levels exhibit a frequency-dependent peak and null structure, which possesses information about the geophysical properties of the seabed, such as the porosity and sediment thickness, and the characterization of the source, such as an effective source depth. The modeled seabed is represented by two sediment layers, parameterized with the viscous grain shearing (VGS) model, which satisfies causality, over a fixed deep layered structure. Inferred estimates of the implicit source levels require averaging an error function over the full 20 min time intervals. Within the 200-700 Hz band, the Wales-Heitmeyer model captures the inferred frequency dependence of the source levels.

Проблемы классификации и наименования договоров, связанных с морскими перевозками

The article contains the results of a scientific understanding of the legal nature of the system of contracts related to maritime carriages. It is argued that it is necessary to include in the Merchant Shipping Code of the Russian Federation an article of the classification of the system of contracts related to maritime transportation, as well as the approval of terms and names for each type of contract.