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Human error is one of tlie significant factors attributed to marine accidents. This paper aims to assess tlie potential contribution of human errors in improving maritime environmental risk management. Success Likelihood Index Method (SLIM), has been adopted to systematically estimate human error potentials for designated tasks in pollution prevention, along with fuzzy sets to deal with subjectivity in the process of using experts' judgments. An oil spill response operation was investigated due to its considerable risks for the marine environment. Environmental factors, familiarity, and fatigue were obseived as having a high impact on human performance. Besides its theoretical insight, the paper provides practical insights into the prevention of marine pollution. This study is presented as a reference providing a contribution to estimating the impact of human errors on maritime accidents. The paper is also intended to contribute to other risky industries w'here human errors can lead to fatal consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) is an integrated system of sensors concentrated in seaports that provide accurate and reliable real-time information about environmental conditions. PORTS measures and disseminates observations for water levels, currents, waves, bridge air gap, water temperature, salinity, and meteorological parameters. PORTS was developed and implemented in the early 1990s in response to an accident in Tampa Bay where a vessel struck the Sunshine Skyway Bridge resulting in a substantial loss of life and property. The programme was established as a public-private partnership where the local community funds the establishment and maintenance of the local observing system, and NOAA provides the programme and data management. Today, PORTS has grown to over 30 locations around the country and services over 80% of the tonnage and over 90% of the value of cargo transiting U.S. seaports. A number of economic benefit studies have shown PORTS can reduce accidents by over 50% and significantly increase efficiency. This article examines the evolution of the programme in terms of addressing emerging observational needs, infusing new technology, enhancing products, conducting economic benefit studies, adapting business models, and serving other societal needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mediterranean sperm whale population is listed as ‘Endangered”. The Hellenic Trench is the core habitat of the eastern Mediterranean sperm whale sub-population that numbers two to three hundred individuals. Major shipping routes running on or very close to the 1000 m depth contour along the Hellenic Trench are causing an unsustainable number of ship-strikes with sperm whales reviewed in this paper. Sperm whale sighting and density data were combined with specific information on the vessel traffic in the area (e.g., types of vessels, traffic patterns, speed and traffic density), in order to estimate the risk of a whale/ship interaction. Routing options to significantly reduce ship strike risk by a small offshore shift in shipping routes were identified. The overall collision risk for sperm whales in the study area would be reduced by around 70%, while a maximum of 11 nautical miles would be added to major routes and only around 5 nautical miles for the majority of ships. No negative impacts were associated with re-routing by shipping away from sperm whale habitat and there would be additional shipping safety and environmental benefits. A significant contribution to the overall conservation status of the marine Natura2000 sites in the area and very important population units of threatened species such as Cuvier’s beaked whales, monk seals and loggerhead turtles would be achieved, by the reduction of shipping noise and reduced risk of any oil spills reaching the coasts, which are also important touristic destinations in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the traditions of the preceding feudal dynasties, efforts were made by the Nguyen Dynasty (Vietnam) to prevent piracy and ensure security and marine safety in the South China Sea during the first half of the nineteenth century. The Nguyen Dynasty directed its energies towards national interests and showed an elevated level of international awareness and responsibility, especially at the beginning of the successful cooperation with Qing Dynasty (China) to resolve this widespread problem. This article examines the attempt of the Nguyen Dynasty to suppress the raiding and looting of pirates in the South China Sea, and its important achievements in this difficult and dangerous work. Addressing this non-traditional security problem also helped confirm the Nguyen Dynasty's possession of islands within the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the undesirable implications of maritime mishaps such as ship collisions and the consequent damages to maritime property; the safety and security of waterways, ports and other maritime assets are of the utmost importance to authorities and researches. Terrorist attacks, piracy, accidents and environmental damages are some of the concerns. This paper provides a detailed literature review of over 180 papers about different threats, their consequences pertinent to the maritime industry, and a discussion on various risk assessment models and computational algorithms. The methods are then categorized into three main groups: statistical, simulation and optimization models. Corresponding statistics of papers based on year of publication, region of case studies and methodology are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ship domain is one of navigational safety assessment criteria. Its shape and size depend on many factors, including visibility. This article examines the influence of visibility on the shape and dimensions of ship domain in restricted waters. The research was conducted using a simulator of the ECDIS system with the participation of experts' navigators. The domains of ships in good and restricted visibility have been compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Medieval statutory regulations at the east coast of the Adriatic Sea, especially in Dubrovnik, that are analysed in this article are related to sailor's service, agreement of service, types of contracts, single voyage contracts, time contracts and profit share, sailors' working responsibilities, breach of contractual obligations etc., all of which enable an interesting insight and open the question of possible parallels with contemporary seafarers' labour relations. In 2006, the International Labour Organisation adopted the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) which sets out terms and conditions for employment of seafarers, regarding the minimum age for employment, medical conditions to be met by seafarers, employment of seafarers through an appropriate system with no charge to the seafarers, entitlement to wages in accordance with employment agreements, etc. Special focus is dedicated to their hours of work and rest in order to ensure safety of navigation. MLC entitles seafarers to adequate compensation in cases of injury, loss or unemployment arising from ship's loss or foundering, in addition to the right to free repatriation of seafarers, except in cases of serious breach of seafarer's contractual obligations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine operations need to be executed in a cost-effective and safe manner. Safety depends on safety margins that are included in the operational limits. These operational limits are normally given in terms of sea state parameters, i.e. significant wave height (Hs) and peak period (Tp), here denoted as Hs(Tp). Safety margins on Hs(Tp) should account for various sources of uncertainties in weather forecasts, wave spectral shape, numerical models, etc. Wave spectra at an offshore site may be multi-modal and not necessarily resemble analytical spectra, such as Joint North Sea Wave Project (JONSWAP) or Pierson-Moskowitz (PM) models. Since floating vessels are sensitive to wave spectral energy distribution, Hs(Tp) operational limits should account for this source of uncertainty. This paper provides a general methodology to assess the uncertainty in Hs(Tp) limits due to variability in wave spectral energy distribution. This is important for safe execution of marine operations. The methodology uses response-based operational limits, directional (2D) hindcast wave spectra and dynamic coupled models of marine operation activities. A case study of an offshore wind turbine transition piece installation is shown to illustrate the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chen, C.; Chiang, Z.; Liu, Y., and Zeng, X., 2018. Critical success factors in marine safety management in shipping industry. In: Liu, Z.L. and Mi, C. (eds.), Advances in Sustainable Port and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 83, pp. 846–850. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN0749-0208. About three-fourth of global flow of cargo is currently transported through shipping. The boom of international trade, which mainly depends on marine transportation, in past years has shipping industry become the economic focus in coastal countries. Along with the economic development and increasing global trade, the increasing number of ships and large-scale ships, accidents at sea are not eliminated with improving marine technology. It is therefore important for shipping industry, through management, establishing safety management mechanism conforming to regulations and suitable for ships to reduce operational risks and further eliminate accidents caused by personal factors in order to create business performance of enterprises. Shipping industry is the research object in this study. Supervisors and employees of Fujian Shipping Company are sampled for the questionnaire survey. Total 300 copies of questionnaire are distributed, and 256 valid copies are retrieved, with the retrieval rate 85%. The research results are concluded as followings. (1) From the survey, organizational planning was mostly emphasized in safety management in shipping industry. (2) From the overall weights of evaluation indicators, tope five indicators, among 17 evaluation indicators, are competent personnel, censorship, regulation compliance, sound system, and administrative support. Suggestions are proposed according to the results, expecting to analyze the critical factors in the establishment of safety management systems in shipping industry. Proper strategic suggestions are also proposed to solve the problems encountered in safety management systems to enhance the effectiveness of safety management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety of shipping is a growing concern. The causes of shipping casualties are various. A fire on a ship is one of the most hazardous incidents which can happen on board and a common cause of damages and accidents in ships. However, this knowledge decreases where electrical installations, whose effects are not well-understood, are involved. Because of these effects and risks, the regulations related to cables for a vessel's electrical installations anticipate the use of special low fire propagation and fire-resistant cables made with low smoke emission and halogen-free materials. Despite these criteria, the regulations permit the use of materials such as PVC. The main purpose of this research is to identify the risks associated of the use of PVC versus Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSOH) cables that could be present for equipment safety and people in case of fire. As a result of the implementation of the regulatory framework, test results carried out at UPC (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) Material testing lab from PVC and LSOH cables used in ships have been obtained. Finally, the use of LSOH cables is implemented to assess the effect of fire risk reduction measure for the enhancement of safety of shipping in coastal waters, efficiency and protection of the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human errors during maintenance operations are one of the most prevalent causes of marine accidents. Seafarers conduct marine system maintenance on-board in a challenging environment, which makes maintenance prone to un-intentional errors. To address this concern, the study of human performance during maintenance operations on ships is necessary as a part of maritime quantitative risk assessment. However, there is a significant lack of appropriate field data and information relating to human performance on-board ships. This study attempts to fill this important data and knowledge gap. It presents a data collection and analysis procedures for maintenance operations of marine systems. Data related to performance-affecting factors is collected from a total of 235 experienced seafarers from Engine Departments (ED) and Deck Departments (DD) through a structured questionnaire. The collected data is then analysed for normality and also for a pairwise significance test. It helps to study the generalization of the data and also to identify the relative importance of the performance-affecting factors. Collected data will help in developing human error assessment techniques for more accurate Human Error Probability (HEP) estimation in marine environmental conditions. Additionally, this study is useful for identifying the relative importance of performance-affecting factors for the maintenance operations of marine systems. Based on the results of this study, workload and stress, and ship motion (roll and pitch) are identified as critical factors affecting seafarers’ performance during maintenance operations. These identified high important performance-affecting factors will assist in future human reliability analysis and risk mitigation strategies for improving the safety and reliability of maintenance operations for the marine industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time prediction of ship roll motion is vital for marine safety and efficiency of operations onboard the ship. However, ship roll motion is a complex time-varying nonlinear process which varies with various sailing conditions as well as time-varying environmental factors. To achieve precise real-time ship roll prediction, an ensemble prediction scheme is constructed by combining the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) method with the variable-structure radial basis function (RBF) network. The DWT is used to reduce the time-series data redundancies and carry the data information in few significant uncoupled sub-series, thus facilitate the identification and prediction by using the variable RBF networks. The variable RBF networks are used to represent time-varying dynamics with both the structure and parameters are tuned in real time. The DWT-transform-based variable RBF networks are used to represent the time-varying nonlinear dynamics of ship roll movement during ship maneuvering. The effectiveness of the proposed DWT-based real-time roll prediction scheme is demonstrated by short-term ship roll motion prediction experiments based on the actual ship roll motion measurements collected during sea test of M.V. YuKun . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Arctic Council intergovernmental forum of the Arctic States which was created in 1996, and it mentions the expansion of the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy mandate, as well as information about the six Arctic Indigenous Peoples that are Permanent Participants in Arctic region governments. The Members States of the Arctic Council are addressed, along with marine safety and mental well-being and health of Permanent Participants.

About 63% of the world’s shipping accidents are recurrent—they occur to ships that have already experienced at least one prior accident. Therefore, reducing recurrent accidents can contribute significantly to maritime safety. We study the factors affecting both first and recurrent accidents, by focusing on the duration between two accidents. Cox proportional hazard models are applied to ship accident data from 1996 to 2015, and the results identify which ships have a high risk of recurrent accidents, based on ship attributes, ship supply and market conditions, shipbuilding country, previous accident type, and ship type. The recurrent rate is high when the ship involved in the accident is old, small, flies a flag of convenience, and has no detention record. In addition, the accident risk increases when the shipping market faces a high bunker price, overcapacity in supply, a high time charter rate, or low newbuilding price. On the other hand, ships built in China and Japan have lower recurrent accident rates than those built elsewhere, although ships built in China have earlier first accidents than do others. General cargo ships have the highest recurrent accident rate, followed by dry bulkers, container ships, and tankers, in that order. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a methodology for the analysis of Arctic shipping accident scenarios using Bayesian Networks (BN). The proposed methodology is applied to a scenario involving a collision between a vessel and an iceberg. The study aims to identify the most significant causative factors to the potential accident scenarios. It is achieved by undertaking a sensitivity analysis study. The results inform the development of measures to avoid and control accidents during Arctic shipping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acharya, T.D.; Yoo, K.W., and Lee, D.H., 2017. GIS-based spatio-temporal analysis of marine accidents database in the coastal zone of Korea. In: Lee, J.L.; Griffiths, T.; Lotan, A.; Suh, K.-S., and Lee, J. (eds.), The 2nd International Water Safety Symposium. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 79, pp. 114-118. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Maritime transportation, including the use of boats, ferries and ships for the transportation, fishing and recreational activities, currently plays an important factor in global economy and is increasing annually. With increase of maritime transportation, the occurrences of marine accident are also increased. Based on worldwide statistical database of marine accidents, Marine Casualties and Incidents (MCI) module published by Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS), the second highest number of accidents have occurred in the coastal zone around East Asian countries, China, Japan and Korea. Especially in Korea, there are many major accidents such as sinking, collision, capsizing, stranding, grounding and explosion etc. which can cause huge damage of human life and property. This study analyses the spatial distribution of marine accidents in more details for coastal zone of Korea in order to illustrate and predict the vulnerable coastal zone for improving costal safety management, planning and decision making. A detailed database with major and minor accidents around coastal zone in Korea collected by the office of Korea Coast Guard (KCG) from 2007 to 2014 were used for the geo-spatial analysis in Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. Two types of spatial analysis, Buffer and Cluster analysis, were performed to visualize the distribution of marine accidents and then to determine the high accident and safety deficient areas. The results from this study can help to determine the common reasons of marine accidents in the coastal zone of Korea, with high vulnerable zone of accident, for risk management, accident prevention and response planning in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water depth extraction of shallow water plays an important role for marine safety. It is considered a useful reconnaissance tool to save time and cost to be used in preliminary survey. This paper aims to assess the performance of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) in estimating the bathymetry of the Eastern harbor of Alexandria Egypt as a case study. This area of the case study represents a low turbid, mud bottom and shallow water area. The estimation of shallow water depth is based on ANN fitting algorithms using the logarithms of multispectral bands reflectance value. The estimation of water depths using optical bands of Landsat-8 multispectral images is extracted directly without regard to other environmental factors (bottom type and sea sediments). The images are first corrected for the effects caused by atmospheric conditions and sun specular. The bands are then calibrated using reference measurements obtained using GPS and single beam echo sounder in the study area. The estimated depths using ANN based on bands 1 &3, 3 only and 2 &3 show higher correlations and lower root mean square error compared the estimation made by previously developed statistically equations which were updated using the same data sets used in developing the ANNs. The ANN has a better capability to estimate the bathymetry using remotely-sensed data extracted from Landsat-8 images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of risk analysis methods as decision support tools is getting more and more acceptance to analyze, recover or mitigate potential risks in engineering applications. Integrated risk analysis techniques lead to obtain more reliable and realistic solutions. In this paper, ‘Fuzzy Based Risk Assessment’ has been used and systematically incorporated in terms of a set of plausible model scenarios leading to cargo vessel accidents at the coasts and open seas of Turkey. Through the analysis, four main aspects of uncertainty proposed by authors, i.e. level of understanding, quality of knowledge, uncertainty level of cargo ship accidents and sensitivity levels of model parameters, are integrated to model parameters to analyze cargo ship accidents. In order to investigate the effects of uncertainty parameters to model parameters, the paper incorporates ‘Fuzzy Set Theory’, ‘fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, AHP’ and ‘fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution, TOPSIS’ methods due to the nature of subjectivity and ambiguity of the parameters in uncertain marine environment. ‘fuzzy analytic hierarchy process’ is used to analyze and determine the weights of the aspects of uncertainty while ‘fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution’ is employed for ranking the model parameters. The case study demonstrates the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed methodology. As a result, a risk perspective for the integrated risk management and decision making process is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We implement and solve a search-trajectory optimization problem originally formulated in our companion paper, with multiple searchers looking for multiple targets in continuous time and space. The problem minimizes the probability that all of the searchers fail to detect any of the targets during a planning horizon. We develop an implementable algorithm that converges to stationary points of the original infinite-dimensional problem. Numerical tests illustrate the approach in a naval scenario with up to three searchers protecting a capital ship from ten attackers in go-fast boats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Icebergs are hazards to ship traffic and offshore operations. Their monitoring using satellite data is hence important for marine safety and for protection of the marine environment. The repeated search for smaller icebergs in a temporal sequence of satellite images, however, can be time-consuming if the expected drift path of the berg is not known. Computer simulations of iceberg drift can be applied to determine the approximate new iceberg position to narrow the search radius for icebergs. Best suited for this purpose are relatively simple, fast-running models. For three different regions of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, we used an iceberg drift model driven by wind forecasts and analyzed predicted iceberg positions in comparison to positions retrieved from GPS buoys placed on the icebergs. As an error measure, we took the difference between the modeled and observed iceberg positions and drift angles. As the model was developed for open water regions, we added a sea-ice component. The application of the model was tested on two ENVISAT Wide Swath SAR scenes from the Weddell Sea, simulating and tracking iceberg positions for a period of five days. Although simulation results differ from direct observations of iceberg drift, they are still useful for narrowing the search area for icebergs in satellite images. We attribute the deviations between simulations and observations to the inherent large uncertainties in the input data for the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sinking of the Sewol ferry on April 16, 2014, in Korea, the deadliest peacetime maritime accident in decades, was caused by a variety of factors, including human error and institutional and legal deficiencies. This article reviews the incident and its consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decrease in summer sea-ice extent in the Arctic Ocean opens shipping routes and creates potential for many marine operations. For these activities accurate predictions of sea-ice conditions are required to maintain marine safety. In an attempt at Arctic sea-ice prediction, the summer of 2010 is selected to implement an Arctic sea-ice data assimilation (DA) study. The DA system is based on a regional Arctic configuration of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model (MITgcm) and a local singular evolutive interpolated Kalman (LSEIK) filter to assimilate Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) sea-ice concentration operational products from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Based on comparisons with both the assimilated NSIDC SSMIS concentration and concentration data from the Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility, the forecasted sea-ice edge and concentration improve upon simulations without data assimilation. By the nature of the assimilation algorithm with multivariate covariance between ice concentration and thickness, sea-ice thickness fields are also updated, and the evaluation with in situ observation shows some improvement compared to the forecast without data assimilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to enhance the authenticity and accuracy simulation of passengers' evacuation in ships, a new multi-grid model is proposed on the basis of cellular automata theory. By finer lattice the multi-grid model could enhance the continuity of passengers' track and the precision of boundary's qualification compared with traditional cellular automata model. Attraction, repulsion and friction are also quantized in the multi-grid model to present the impact of interaction force among pedestrians. Furthermore, crowd's evacuation simulated by traditional cellular automata and multi-grid model in single exit room and typical cabin environment have been taken as examples to analyze crowd's motion laws. It is found that the laws of passengers' evacuation simulated by the two models are similar, and the simulation authenticity and accuracy is enhanced by the multi-grid model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As human activities in the oceans increase, so does the number of maritime installations. To avoid collisions, installations are surrounded by safety zones, where the coastal State enjoys some jurisdiction. Safety zones have to be respected by all ships. However, technical advancements and economic feasibility have made it possible for installations and their surrounding safety zones to occupy large areas of sea; see, e.g., offshore wind farms, which were previously open to the international community. This article argues for a restrictive understanding of the coastal State's jurisdiction, based on the purpose of the safety zone regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses aspects of the April 16, 2014 sinking of the South Korean ferry Sewol, owned by shipping company Chonghaejin Marine Co. Ltd., which killed 304 passengers including high school students. Topics include the company's reckless disregard for safety training, the South Korean Coast Guard's failed and ineffective rescue operation, and how the accident suggested the exhaustion of the South Korean political-economic model. Also included is the growth of shipbuilding company Hyundai Shipbuilding, which represents the triumphs of South Korean capitalism.

The Aegean Sea is characterized by an extremely high marine safety risk, mainly due to the significant increase of the traffic of tankers from and to the Black Sea that pass through narrow straits formed by the 1600 Greek islands. Reducing the risk of a ship accident is therefore vital to all socio-economic and environmental sectors. This paper presents an online long-term marine traffic monitoring work-flow that focuses on extracting aggregated vessel risks using spatiotemporal analysis of multilayer information: vessel trajectories, vessel data, meteorological data, bathymetric / hydrographic data as well as information regarding environmentally important areas (e.g. protected high-risk areas, etc.). A web interface that enables user-friendly spatiotemporal queries is implemented at the frontend, while a series of data mining functionalities extracts aggregated statistics regarding: (a) marine risks and accident probabilities for particular areas (b) trajectories clustering information (c) general marine statistics (cargo types, etc.) and (d) correlation between spatial environmental importance and marine traffic risk. Towards this end, a set of data clustering and probabilistic graphical modelling techniques has been adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents assumptions and process of the forming of a risk assessment model for collision between a passenger ferry departing from or approaching port of Świnoujście and a chemical tanker carrying a dangerous cargo. In order to assess navigational safety on the basis of data obtained from AIS system, were prepared probabilistic domains of ships, which made it possible to estimate number of navigational incidents as well as their spatial distribution, that consequently allowed to determine potentially dangerous areas. The next phase was formulation of a simulative model intended for the calculating of probability of collision between the ferry and chemical tanker as well as the determining of characteristic scenarios for such collision. This paper presents also an analysis of consequences of the collision with taking into consideration a damage of cargo tanks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence and enforcement of legal regulations is imperative of maritime navigation. All legal regulations relating to maritime security and whose goal is securing the safety at sea, can be divided to regulations relating to navigable vessels, regulations relating to cargo carried by ships; regulations governing maintenance of waterways; regulations relating to human factor (regulations concerning education, schooling, training of naval personnel) and regulations relating to supervision, i.e. control of maritime security. In this paper, the author particularly analyses legal regulations relating to ship safety. First, the author defines the concept of maritime security and indicates its differentiation from similar concepts like safety of navigation, safe trade and maritime security. Then, she talks about seaworthiness and the most common risks whose realization would lead to endangering ship safety, cargo and human lives. In conclusion, the author emphasizes the importance and necessity of exercising control over ships in order to verify compliance with the standards laid down by international conventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work is developed method of evaluation safety level, which decreases with floating intensity functioning during technical object. Factors, condition such changes were reviewed. Basing on proposed methodic of detection of various types of risks exists possibility to form constructive algorithms of evaluation of safety level, which allows forming adequate danger counteraction means. One of basic factors, representing dangers, is malfunctions, appearing on technical object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main tasks of the Sub-committee on Ship Design and Construction (SDC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is development of the 2nd Generation Intact Stability Criteria. The paper presents the framework and the approach agreed by the Sub-committee. The framework bases on the concept of stability failure and vulnerability assessment. However, the criteria, standards and regulations developed so far have weaknesses that may prevent some IMO Member States from adoption of the regulations on the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) level. The paper presents some of the weaknesses that are the most important from the Author's point of view. Awareness of the weaknesses may facilitate the future work of the Sub-committee and its working groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Australian maritime law and its development. It mentions the Marine Safety National Law Act 2012 for safe operation, design and construction of ships and the Navigation Act 2012 which is replacement and updation of the Navigation Act 1912 which governs crew safety, safe navigation and marine pollution. It also mentions the Dampskibsselskabet Norden A/S v. Gladstone Civil Pty Ltd. court case regarding voyage charterparty.

A mandatory international code for safer shipping, which in turn will help protect vulnerable marine environments in polar waters, is imminent. It began life as recommendatory guidelines from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to apply only to ships in Arctic waters. But a request from the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties prompted the expansion of these guidelines into mandatory rules for shipping in both polar regions. Choices for the form and scope of the code included, among others, the adoption of a separate convention or the addition of annexes to supplement the International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The technical difficulties associated with a mandatory code applying to ships servicing the Arctic or the Antarctic or both have largely been overcome and a risk-based code is about to be adopted and applied, in the first instance, to SOLAS-rated vessels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article describes the research conducted by the writer concerning the possibilities in enhancing the safety of ships and seaworthiness through risk management and marine insurance connected to new possibilities developed by research results achieved by solutions developed for Bridge Resource Management and Crew Resource Management. The article describes the basic solution in new Nordic Marine Insurance Plan 2013 for encouraging the ship owners to develop safety practices which can be accepted by the insurers as safety regulations in insurance policies to affect the risk management and to create safety practices which in turn increase safety on vessels and create cost efficiency through decreased insurance premiums when risk management on a ship or whole fleet is taken care of by using these modern safety practices which are made possible through effective use of modern technology and use of research models adjusted to practices on vessels. The further research will identify possibilities to develop similar practices to enhance safety culture by developing similar models which can be used as models to decrease transport costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Romanian maritime law consists of a set of legal rules contained in several acts. Among these are commercial code, ordinary laws, ordinances, government decisions, plus maritime usages. The Romanian maritime law also contains a number of provisions of international conventions ratified by Romania. Romanian maritime law is not a component of the transport law. Maritime law refers not only to transport by sea, but also to the status of property and persons involved in shipping. The study subject of maritime law is much diversified. Maritime law rules describe vessel ownership, maritime rights and transport-related activities. Another object of study refers to the status of seafarers, maritime security, rescue and assistance at sea, crew hiring and obligations, arrest, prosecution and forced sale of the commercial ships. Other topics of study relate to ship owners, shipmasters, charterers etc. Due to the dangers of the sea, maritime risk is found in almost all analyses and works on maritime law. The dangers of the sea transport justify the principle of the limitation of the liability. Because of this principle, the theoretical institutions of joint damage, maritime assistance and collision assistance have been established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic stability is one of the most important nautical qualities of ships. Large waves can have a negative influence over ship's stability that may lead to dangerous situations. In the present paper the surf-riding phenomenon of ships in following and quartering waves is examined. Surf-riding is one of the phenomenon that can lead to ship stability loss or even capsize in following and quartering waves. Analytical considerations of equation of surging motion in following and quartering waves explain the critical condition of surf-riding. The physics behind the connection of surf-riding with broaching and loss of ships stability resulted in capsize is explored. Practical explanation of the surf-riding on board ships is explained, followed by recommendation for assessment of dangerous situation related to surf-riding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restricted visibility is most often associated with fog, haze, but is also caused by rain and snowfalls, drizzle or blizzards. Very bad visibility, less than 200 m represents a high risk for air, road and maritime transports and for other types of economic activities. In 2014 it caused road accidents and restrictions of Constanta or other ports operations or their closing and suspension of the manoeuvres on the Danube -- Black Sea canal. Bad visibility and weather phenomena frequencies during the months of January, February and March 2014 in Constanta are analyzed in this paper. The synoptic conditions during the days when bad visibility was recorded are also studied, based on GFS (re)analysis maps -- SLP, 500 hPa geopotential, 2 m temperatures and precipitations, as well as on approximate soundings for Constanta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] There were a total of 281 fatalities in the Norwegian fishing fleet 1990–2011. [•] An improvement in fatalities and incident rates is apparent over the study period. [•] Drowning was the leading cause of fatality occurrence in the Norwegian fleet. [•] Singular fatalities were significantly more common than multiple death incidents. [•] Fishers over 40years were more likely to suffer a fatal accident in the fleets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The development of human factor- (HF) related regulations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has often been the result of responses to maritime accidents. The typical reaction to an accident has been a combination of (mainly technical) regulations, changing of procedures and training. Systemic evaluations and changes have rarely been done. Statements made by IMO in recent years claim a shift towards a proactive approach in maritime safety. Key documents, like the IMO Human Element vision, would confirm such statements. This article reviews documents submitted to IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in order to evaluate the ‘mechanisms’ of decision-making and the priorities for setting the agenda in MSC regarding maritime human factors. The review confirms that the IMO work related to HF was reactive in the 1990s. There are a number of examples of more recent regulations that can be considered proactive. However, it is too early to fully confirm a proactive policy in the IMO rule-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]