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This paper focuses on the analysis of the COVID-19 effects on passenger shipping in Danish waters as an example and aims to analyse the differences in passenger vessel activities and emissions before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Two sets of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data for the passenger ships sailing in Danish waters associated with the whole year respectively for 2020 and 2019 are used for a comprehensive evaluation of the passenger shipping activities in the region by means of the analysis of variance and bottom-up emission models. A comparison of those results based on the two datasets shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has a major impact on cruise ships, with a significant reduction in the number of ships, average speed, and average draught. In contrast, the pandemic has a smaller impact on ferry-pax only and ferry-ro pax vessels. The effects can also be seen from the fact that, after the COVID-19 outbreak, SOx emissions from cruise ships, ferry-pax only and ferry-ro pax vessels were reduced by 50.71%, 0.51% and 0.82%, respectively. This investigation provides an important reference for policy makers in the marine environment sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the distribution and behaviour of ocean vessels in the Arctic region and determine the impacts of their emissions, we examine vessel characteristics in conjunction with a series of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data between 2012 and 2016. These datasets, combined with a bottom-up model for estimating pollution emissions, enable us to analyse the level of pollution generated by vessels in the Arctic region. The results indicate that the movements of the vessels and their emissions increase in frequency and continue to do so unless clean energy or technologies are adopted. More than 80% of the emissions are found to be concentrated in the Norwegian and Barents Seas. Emissions from the Northern Sea Route are comparatively low and those from the Northwest Passage are similarly insignificant. Besides, an empirical analysis of the emissions in the Arctic region is carried out following the more restrictive International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s regulations on sulphur emissions that is implemented in 2020. This investigation supplements the literature analysing Arctic's pollution emission inventory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the market competitiveness of railway transportation in a multimodal transport system, China's local governments have adopted their own freight subsidy policies. This has resulted in a disorderly competition for the China Railway (CR) Express. To address this problem, this study aims to determine a suitable freight subsidy mechanism that considers various influencing factors, such as operating costs, external costs, and transshipment costs of various modes of transportation. A bi-level programming model was developed. The upper-level model aimed to maximize the freight carried by the CR Express through unit subsidy. In contrast, the objective of the lower-level model was to minimize the OD transport cost. The solution to the bi-level model was based on Dijkstra's algorithm and the pattern search algorithm. Taking the freight transport in the Yangtze River Delta and its surrounding areas as an example, we found that when the unit subsidy was increased from 0% to 30%, the proportion of the freight carried by the CR Express increased from 0% to 20% (in terms of the total cargo). When the subsidy was 14.28%, the cargo volume's rate of increase was at its highest, with the proportion of the CR Express being 13.33%. We infer that goods of different time value should have different subsidy values. Furthermore, we also conclude that with an increase in the loading coefficient, the subsidy could be eliminated in a phased manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a national strategy proposed by China to strengthen globalization and regional economic integration, connecting the country to the world. The BRI will drive China's ports to expand connectivity through construction and operation along the '21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR)'. At the same time, port governance involves central, provincial and local governments engaging in overseas investment and financing in the context of the BRI. Under the double-level governance of the central and local governments, discrepancies, disjointed actions and gaps inevitably arise between the policies launched by the central and local governments. This article evaluates 14 major coastal ports operating with state-level support and overseas investment. 11 evaluation indexes are determined from the existing development conditions of ports and the economic strength of port cities. Fuzzy clustering method is applied to evaluate and classify the development of the coastal ports in China and to develop a reasonable implementation mode of the 'going global strategy' of the ports. Consequently, it would help policymakers and stakeholders in China deal with the rivalry of provincial governments, alleviate overseas investment risks and strengthen the foreign port chain management along the MSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]