Offshore Zone Research Articles

Some aspects of global regulation of offshore zones.

Some aspects of global regulation of offshore zones.

Особые экономические зоны как точки роста для развития экономики России

The subject of the study is the special economic zones of Russia (SEZ) under the conditions of sanctions imposed by the countries of the collective West. The purpose of the work is to substantiate the possibilities of the SEZ in terms of increasing the potential of internal sources of economic growth that contribute to ensuring technological sovereignty and innovative development, as well as the formation of a supply—side economy. It is shown that the state is interested in creating SEZs as sources of new industries and jobs, including in new territories of Russia. The potential for economic recovery of Russian regions applying a preferential economic cooperation regime is noted, similar to the effect obtained from the activities of China's special economic zones, which ensure employment growth and poverty reduction of the local population. It has been established that among the Russian SEZs, industrial production and technical implementation zones prevail, which are in demand and effective, despite the sanctions against the Russian economy. It has been revealed that private investors in the SEZ of Russia are mainly domestic residents due to the introduction of a sanctions ban on foreign residents, overcome through the use of offshore zones that allow foreign businesses to invest capital in the Russian economy. Conclusions are drawn about the need for state support for SEZs in Russia.

OFFSHORE BUSINESS AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF ITS REGULATION

The importance of researching this issue lies in the fact that in the modern world, offshore business has gained global proportions, one helps to open a new business, another to avoid large taxes, and a third to keep their organization in secret․ In modern society, both in politics and in business, the term "offshore" has no clear meaning. The use of offshore zones can not be called a modern phenomenon, as the history and formation of this activity began in the late 1950s, but despite that period, it has gained international recognition. The urgency of this issue is also due to the influence of offshore companies on the redistribution of financial resources. Currently, offshore zones have become an integral part of the global economic system and the national economies of many, including highly developed countries. Based on the study, its determined, that offshore areas will continue to develop under constant political and economic pressure.

Study on Numerical Modeling for Pollutants Movement Based on the Wave Parabolic Mild Slope Equation in Curvilinear Coordinates

Nearshore waves and currents induced by breaking of obliquely incident waves are important dynamic factors that significantly affect pollutants movement at offshore zones. A combined numerical model in orthogonal curvilinear coordinates is developed to simulate pollutants movement in surf zones, including a wave transformation model based on the parabolic mild slope equation, a wave-induced current model, and a pollutant transport model driven by waves and currents. This combined model has been applied to pollutants movement laboratory cases, and comparison of the simulations with experimental measurements shows good agreement. The model has also been applied to simulation of the Gourlay experiment and it shows consistent results with the distribution of waves and offshore currents. This coupled numerical model has preliminarily improved the situation of rare numerical research on the nearshore pollutant transport in coastal wave and wave-induced current based on wave radiation stress theory in orthogonal curvilinear coordinates.

The Interaction between Storm Surge and Concomitant Waves in Shandong Peninsula

Storm surge and concomitant waves induced by extreme weather systems can significantly modulate the marine dynamic environment. In this study, we used the Advanced Circulation-Simulating Waves Nearshore (ADCIRC-SWAN) coupled model to analyze spatiotemporal variation in dynamic processes during two types of weather systems, i.e., typhoons and extratropical storms, in the sea area near the Shandong Peninsula. The effects of waves on water level, water level change on wave height, and currents on wave height were investigated and quantified separately by performing sensitivity experiments. Our results showed that the interaction between water level change and waves occurred mainly in the nearshore zone. The wave-induced surge accounted for about 10–15% of the total storm surge. The water level change-induced significant wave height reached up to 0.9–1.3 m. Wave–current interaction occurred mainly in the offshore zone and was related to the relative angle between wave and current directions. The modulations of water level and wave height were strongly dependent on not only storm track and intensity but also topography and coastline shapes.

Experimental study on permeability of spun high strength concrete material during mechanical loading

The pretensioned spun high strength concrete pipe pile (PHC pipe pile) is widely applied in important infrastructures of off-shore zones due to its low permeability and high capacity. During the construction process and the whole service period of PHC pipe piles, the damage is inevitably caused by many reasons, which may eventually cause the early durability failure of piles. Many researches have been conducted to study the change in permeability of normal concrete due to mechanical damage. However, the relation between permeability and damage of spun high strength concrete (SHSC) is still not been studied. To quantitively investigate the change of permeability of SHSC, a series of specimens of PHC pipe piles were tested for the change of permeability during mechanical loading process in this study. As a result, the relation of stress and permeability of spun high strength concrete as well as the crack roughness of the SHSC is obtained for efficient application in engineering. Before the 40% stress ratio, the permeability of the SHSC is slightly decreased as the compressive stress increases. The mean value and standard deviation of the intrinsic permeability of the SHSC are increased as the compressive stress loading reaches the peak stress. The order of magnitude of the crack roughness ξ can be taken as 10- 4 for engineering application. Compared with the vibrate-casted concrete, the crack roughness ξ is smaller, indicating that the crack surface of SHSC is rougher than the vibrate-casted concrete.

Research on the Flexural Behavior of a Coastwise RS-OCT Beam That Has Endured Long-Term Fatigue Load for Years

Retrofitted super-span old T-shaped concrete beams (RS-OCT beams) are commonly used in highway bridges in coastal cities and offshore zones in China. The realization of a practical ultimate state for this beam under a bending load is still lacking. In this study, a flexural experiment on an original RS-OCT beam subjected to a long-term vehicle cyclical load was conducted in a laboratory. Several interesting phenomena were discovered. Notably, a butt-weld joint typically exists on longitudinal reinforced bars, which may be vulnerable to bending. The RS-OCT beam simultaneously suffered from the double function of atmospheric environment and fatigue during service. Based on the time-dependent and fatigue theories of materials, finite element analysis was performed using the ABAQUS software. The flexural behavior of the RS-OCT beam at various time periods was simulated. Subsequently, the flexural bearing capacities of the beams were calculated. The safety reservation of the RS-OCT beam at various time stages was related to the change in material properties and upgrading of the loading level. The latter plays a dominant role in the service state.

Spectrum-Based Logistic Regression Modeling for the Sea Bottom Soil Categorization

The present analysis of state of the art portrays that actual time series or spectrum backscattered data from a point on the sea bottom are rarely used as features for machine learning models. The paper deals with the artificial intelligence techniques used to examine CHIRP-recorded data. The data were collected using a CHIRP sub-bottom profiler to study two sand bottom sites and two sandstone bottom sites in the offshore zone of Ashqelon City (Southern Israel). The first reflection time series and spectra of all the traces from the four sites generated two training and two test sets. Two logistic regression models were trained using the training sets and evaluated for accuracy using the test sets. The examination results indicate that types of sea bottom can be quantitatively characterized by applying logistic regression models to either the backscatter time series of a frequency-modulated signal or the spectrum of that backscatter. The examination accuracy reached 90% for the time series and 94% for the spectra. The application of spectral data as features for more advanced machine learning algorithms and the advantages of their combination with other types of data have great potential for future research and the enhancement of remote marine soil classification.

Analysis of navigational risk indicators as a function of the ship's domain width for the selected offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea

This study concerns the analysis of navigational risk indicators as a function of the ship's domain width estimated for nine selected representative ships sailing under various hydrometeorological conditions (average and deteriorated ones) observed within the Offshore Wind Farm to be constructed within the Polish offshore zone on the Baltic Sea. For this purpose, the authors compare three types of domain parameters according to the guidelines by the PIANC, Coldwell and Rutkowski (3D). The study enabled selection of a group of ships which can be considered safe and can optionally be allowed to navigate and/or fish in the immediate vicinity and within the offshore wind farm. The analyses required the use of hydrometeorological data, mathematical models and operating data obtained with the use of maritime navigation and manoeuvring simulators.

ABOUT THE FEATURES OF SURROUNDING WATER INVOLVEMENT IN THE JET FOR THE PROBLEM ON MAN-MADE OIL SPILLS

Every year, the scale of oil development in the Russian Federation is growing. A third of the hydrocarbons produced are in the offshore zone. In Russia, offshore oil production takes place in the Okhotsk, Baltic, Caspian and Pechora Seas. Oil production in a pipeline is a technologically complex process, thereby increasing the relevance of creating safe processes for the production, transportation and processing of petroleum products.If safety precautions are neglected, annual diagnostic and repair work is ignored, factors may arise that provoke the occurrence of man-made accidents leading to natural disasters. The consequences of accidental oil spills lead to the destruction of flora and fauna in the environment. For the complete elimination of an oil spill, considerable economic, technological and time resources are required.An offshore oil spill results in the formation of submerged jets that spread hydrocarbons into the surrounding fluid. Predicting the behavior of this submerged jet, it is possible to accelerate the process of oil spill response.The paper considers the problem of formation of a damaged source of oil products. This source could be formed as a result of oil pipeline damage. According to the condition of the problem, this source is located at the bottom of the reservoir and has the following thermophysical characteristics: oil volume flow, temperature, density, etc. The problem considers the characteristics of the medium, which are characterized by a small depth of the oil pipeline, so the formation of hydrate is not taken into account.To solve the problem, the integral Lagrangian control volumes method (ILCVM) is used. According to this method, the submerged jet is considered as a sequence of cylindrical control volumes, which have their own characteristics, such as radius, height, density, liquid content ratio, temperature, velocity, etc. Depending on the movement of the control volume, the above parameters are recalculated. This submerged jet is also affected by the characteristics of the environment: liquid temperature, water salinity, and the presence of an undercurrent.As a result of using ILCVM, a mathematical model that contains the equations of conservation of momentum, mass and energy was built For the accuracy of the model, the parameter of the involvement of the surrounding fluid in the jet is considered in detail. Based on the mathematical model, calculations were carried out for various formats of water entrainment in the jet for cases of oil spills. Graphs were constructed to identify the dependencies of the thermophysical characteristics.

Wind energy potential assessment for Mexico's Yucatecan Shelf

The objective of significantly decreasing the use of fossil fuels due to their environmental impact has led to rethinking strategies to satisfy the global energy demand. Thus, the study and understanding of renewable energy resources is of great importance. Due to the maturity of the technology, wind is currently one of the most competitive sources of renewable energy, and development has focused on making wind power production more efficient, particularly in regions with great potential. The Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, is one of these regions where inland commercial wind farms are already operating. However, these projects have caused environmental and social problems. Therefore, here we propose the development of offshore wind as an alternative. This study aims to calculate the offshore wind potential on the northern Yucatan Peninsula and its continental shelf, to outline/study a design of an offshore wind farm on a selected location at/on the northwest Yucatan coast. WRF atmospheric model data from 2005 to 2016 were used. The numerical simulations were validated with measured data from meteorological stations in the region, both inland and offshore. Characterization of the wind field at different temporal scales was performed, and subsequently, the wind potential was analyzed. The offshore zone with the highest potential was delimited, and a wind farm outline was proposed. The offshore wind farm potential was estimated, showing to be within an ideal range to reach a maximum power level. Besides having a significant wind potential, this zone provides additional advantages, such as mild wave conditions and a shallow depth far from the coast.

Sediment Budget and Net Sediment Transport on a Coast Dominated by Waves and Offshore Currents: A Case Study on the Ishikawa Coast and Its Surrounding Areas in Japan

This study discusses the coastal sediment budget for the Ishikawa coast using 12 years of observational datasets; it involves an understanding the local and regional sediment dynamics, the intensity of the transport processes in the region, and sediment supply from a local river. Although alongshore sediment transport and sediment budgets have been analyzed in previous studies, only a few conducted cross-shore sediment transport evaluations. The concentration of suspended sediments will be determined in this study, taking into account the influence of waves that are associated with the coastal current. The cross-shore sediment transport using sediment budget analysis indicated that the net alongshore sediment transport directions in the surf and offshore zones are opposite on the Ishikawa coast. The increase in the sediment budget of the surf zone can be attributed to the river sediment supply and longshore sediment transport inflow. Because of the significant outflow components of longshore and cross-shore sediment transports, the offshore zone budget showed a decreasing trend. A detailed sensitivity study was performed by varying the input parameters, in order to determine the possible ranges of net transport rates and sediment transport to the adjacent coasts. The results demonstrated the possibility of a clockwise residual sediment circulation. Our method can be used to analyze the alongshore sediment transport for other coasts and supplement future studies on coastal sedimentology and sediment budgets.

Distribution and sources of macrolitter on the seafloor in Belgian fisheries areas

Marine litter is recognized as a global environmental concern. Seafloor litter can provide important information to help assess the status of the marine ecosystem and is relatively easy to collect on a regular basis. The Belgian fisheries area covers different parts of the OSPAR Greater North Sea region and the Celtic Seas. In these regions, seafloor litter data were gathered by quantifying the litter items caught in the trawl net during two different fisheries surveys to investigate litter distribution on both regional and local scales. In the international beam trawl survey (BTS), covering essentially the OSPAR Greater North Sea and Celtic Seas, an average of 2.2 ± 0.05 items.ha-1 were caught with a median of 1.4 items.ha-1. In the environmental monitoring survey (EMS) only the Belgian part of the North Sea was covered and a smaller cod-end mesh size was used, resulting in 12.7 ± 1.7 litter items.ha-1 in the coastal zone (< 12 nm) and 2.8 ± 0.2 items.ha-1 in the more offshore zone (> 12 nm). In both surveys plastic items were predominant, representing up to 88% of the collected litter in the Belgian part of the North Sea. The impact of human activities at sea such as fisheries, sand extraction, wind farms and dredge disposal was investigated. A significant correlation was found between fishing activities and the amount of litter registered in the Belgian part of the North Sea, but not for the OSPAR Greater North Sea and Celtic Seas.

Observations of movement and site fidelity of white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) in Icelandic coastal waters using photo-identification

The white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) is the most commonly sighted delphinid species in Icelandic coastal waters. However, little is known about the species’ abundance, site fidelity and movements throughout its range. Photo-identification studies were conducted from April– October (2002–10) during whalewatching operations in Faxaflói and Skjálfandi bays on the southwest and northeast coasts of Iceland, respectively. Minimum abundance, annual site fidelity and movement between bays were calculated. A total of 154 and 52 individuals were identified in Faxaflói and Skjálfandi bays, respectively. The annual re-sighting rate was 21.4% in Faxaflói bay while only one individual was re-sighted in Skjálfandi bay (1.7%). A total of five dolphins (2.3%) were matched between Faxaflói and Skjálfandi bays with the period between re-sightings ranging from 272 to 821 days (mean 28.16 days, SD = 5.94). Low site fidelity rates observed likely signify a much larger home range than the present study area, into either other coastal or offshore zones, or alternatively may be explained by a large natural population size and/or the opportunistic nature of sampling during this study. Therefore, expansion of the study area is required. The matches between bays suggest that white-beaked dolphins inhabit a largescale coastal range of the Icelandic coast and can be considered highly mobile and transient possibly due to scarce and patchy resources. Alternatively it could be due to a large population size.

Features of the legal status of offshore companies in the offshore zones of the UAE

Features of the legal status of offshore companies in the offshore zones of the UAE

Sedimentation model of the middle Devonian clastic succession of the South Tatar Arch, Pashyian Regional stage, Volga-Ural Oil and Gas Province, Russia

The Pashyian Regional stage (horizon) is the main productive unit of the middle Devonian clastic succession of the South Tatar arch. This article presents, for the first time, maps of the lower and upper parts of the Pashyian, including data on sand-shale ratio, number of sand layers (reservoirs) and thickness, based on the analysis of logging data from 25,000 wells. The maps were created by spatial interpolation of Natural Neighbor and ArcGIS Pro software. The model of sedimentation of the Pashyian Regional stage reflects the interpretation of the plotted maps as well as the synthesis of the results of detailed core investigations (lithological, sedimentological, ichnotextural, petrophysical, etc.) and analysis of archive and published materials. The main points of the proposed model are as follows. The Pashyian sediments were formed in a marine basin, in an environment comparable to that of the middle shelf of modern seas – in an offshore zone dominated by current activity. The basin floor was a relatively flat plateau, on which sandy, silty and clay sediments were simultaneously accumulated. Sediments of all types accumulated during sea transgression. Sea regression caused erosion and destruction of the already formed sediments. Positive landforms of seabed relief, composed predominantly of sandy well-sorted material, comprised autochthonous underwater sand bars, formed by constant currents parallel to the bathymetric contour of the seabed. Underwater sand bars formed extensive systems nearly throughout the entire territory of the modern South Tatar arch. At the same time, allochthonous, poorly sorted, less mature sediments were formed in underwater troughs produced by transversal currents (directed from the shore towards the sea). The proposed model explains the consistent thickness of the Pashyian Regional stage, the mosaic distribution of sand bodies over the area, and the lens-like shape of the sand and siltstone reservoirs. The model can be extrapolated to other stratigraphic intervals of the Devonian clastic succession with similar sedimentological features.

Internationalization of Countering Dishonest Tax Practices

According to the estimates from 2013, 8 per cent of the global capital was located in the so-called ‘offshore zones’, or jurisdictions used for tax optimization, which was $7.6 trillion at the time. Locating funds in tax havens resulted in a reduction of revenue in the relevant jurisdictions of between $500 billion and $600 billion per year. International community has recognized the need to adopt international regulations to counteract the erosion of the tax base. For this purpose, the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) was adopted in 2014. The main idea behind implemented changes was to have an effective exchange of financial information between national tax authorities. This article provides information on the reasons for the adoption of the standard in 2014 and the practice of financial information exchange after 2017. Additionally, data on the effectiveness of exchange of information and critical analysis of some aspects of the functioning of the CRS were presented. The assumptions of the article are presented in terms of internationalization, given the fact that counteracting dishonest taxpayers has shifted from the national to the international level in recent years.

Benthic Microbial Communities and Environmental Parameters of Estuary and Hypoxic Zone in the Bohai Sea, China

The sediment microbial community plays a key role in the cycling of organic matter in marine ecosystems. The characteristics of the sediment microbial community are significantly related to changes in the environment. In this study, we analyzed the diversity and distribution of microbial communities in sediments from different geographical regions (the Liao River estuary, Yellow River estuary, hypoxic zone, and offshore zone) of the Bohai Sea using high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that the community richness and diversity (especially the unique diversity) of the Liao River estuary were larger than those of the Yellow River estuary, hypoxic zone, and offshore zone. The phylum Proteobacteria dominated in the Liao River estuary (46.26%), hypoxic zone (76.19%), and offshore zone (69.79%), while the dominant phylum in the Yellow River estuary was the Bacteroidetes phylum. The genus Gillisia was the dominant genus in both the Liao River estuary and Yellow River estuary. The offshore zone and hypoxic zone shared the same dominant Photobacterium genus. The results of Pearson correlation and redundancy analysis showed that environmental parameters such as nitrite, silicate, nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, dissolved oxygen, pH, and salinity interfered significantly with the structure and diversity of the microbial community. The results of this study will provide support for future research on the interaction mechanism of pollutants and microorganisms in the estuaries and a typical hypoxic zone of the Bohai Sea.

Distribution and accumulation of metals and metalloids in planktonic food webs of the Mediterranean Sea (MERITE-HIPPOCAMPE campaign)

Particle-size classes (7 fractions from 0.8 to 2000 μm) were collected in the deep chlorophyll maximum along a Mediterranean transect including the northern coastal zone (bays of Toulon and Marseilles, France), the offshore zone (near the North Balearic Thermal Front), and the southern coastal zone (Gulf of Gabès, Tunisia). Concentrations of biotic metals and metalloids (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Sb, V, Zn) bound to living or dead organisms and faecal pellets were assessed by phosphorus normalisation. Biotic metals and metalloids concentrations (except Cr, Mn, and V) were higher in the offshore zone than in the coastal zones. In addition, biotic Sb and V concentrations appeared to be affected by atmospheric deposition, and biotic Cr concentrations appeared to be affected by local anthropogenic inputs. Essential elements (Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, V, Zn) were very likely controlled both by the metabolic activity of certain organisms (nanoeukaryotes, copepods) and trophic structure. In the northern coastal zone, biomagnification of essential elements was controlled by copepods activities. In the offshore zone, metals and metalloids were not biomagnified probably due to homeostasis regulatory processes in organisms. In the southern coastal zone, biomagnification of As, Cu, Cr, Sb could probably induce specific effects within the planktonic network.

Isotopic compositions of copper and zinc in plankton from the Mediterranean Sea (MERITE-HIPPOCAMPE campaign): Tracing trophic transfer and geogenic inputs

This study uses Cu and Zn isotopic compositions as proxies of sources and metal transfers in the planktonic food webs from the Mediterranean Sea. Plankton was collected in spring 2019 in the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) along a North-South transect including coastal and offshore zones (MERITE-HIPPOCAMPE campaign). δ65Cu and δ66Zn were determined on four planktonic size fractions from 60 to 2000 μm. Combined δ65Cu and δ66Zn with geochemical tracers (Ti, particulate organic phosphorus) showed that geogenic particles were ubiquitous with plankton assemblages. The δ15N ecological tracer showed that planktonic food web was enriched in heavy isotopes of Cu and Zn in the higher trophic levels. δ65Cu were correlated with picoplankton in the offshore zone, and with zooplankton in the southern coastal zone. Firmicutes bacteria were found correlated with δ66Zn in northern and southern coastal zones suggesting decomposition of particulate matter at the DCM. These findings suggest that biogeochemical process may impact Cu and Zn isotopy in the planktonic community.