Maritime Transport Research最新文献

The actual operational data, such as a time sequence of fuel consumption and speed, is usually unlabeled or not associated with a specific activity like tugging or cruising. The operation type is critical for further analysis, as tugging and cruising operations require different fuel and navigation profiles. This paper aims to develop a self-labelling framework for tugboat operation by using unsupervised machine learning and a proposed intensity indicator. The framework considers two sets of data: the positional data and the fuel consumption rate data. The fuel consumption data is obtained from mass flowmeters installed on tugboats, while the positional data are navigational data purchased from marine data aggregators. The developed self-labelling enables ship operators in identifying operations and locations that require heavy fuel consumption andcan be used for further big data analytics and machine learning for fuel consumption prediction when vessel speeds are known.

This paper advances the conceptual understanding of strategies of port development companies (PDCs) through applying the business ecosystem perspective. This leads to a distinction between four stylized strategies for PDCs and associated types of services: minimalist (six services), integrator (six services) and ecosystem services (six services). An analysis of the services provided by a PDC reveals which strategy they follow. This approach is tested through a case study of Port of Rotterdam Authority (PoR for short) the state-owned PDC in charge of developing Rotterdam's port complex. This case study yields three important conclusions: first the relevance of the identified service types is confirmed, as PoR is or has been active in providing 15 of the 18 identified service types, more specifically all six ‘minimalist services’, all six ‘ecosystem services’ and three of the six ‘integrator services’. Second, PoR follows a ‘platform provider’ strategy. Third, the provision of ‘ecosystem services’ seems to become a more important part of PoRs activities. The number of provided ecosystem services has grown between 2006 and 2021 and investments in ecosystem services account for an increasing share of PoRs total investments. These results provide a basis for further research, amongst others to better understand factors that may influence the strategies of PDCs.

Detecting waypoints where vessels change their behavior (i.e., maneuvers, speed changes, etc.) is essential for optimizing vessel trajectories to increase the efficiency and safety of sailing. However, accurately detecting waypoints is challenging due to potential AIS data quality issues (i.e., missing or inaccurate messages). In this paper, we propose a five-step learning approach (SafeWay) to estimate waypoints on a given AIS trajectory. First, we interpolate trajectories to tackle AIS data quality issues. Then, we annotate historical trajectories by using an existing waypoint library that contains historical waypoints. As the historical waypoints are passage plans manually created by port operators considering sailing conditions at that time, they are not specific to other historical trajectories between the same ports. We, therefore, use a similarity metric to determine overlapping segments of historical trajectories with the historical waypoints from the waypoint library. Then, we build a transformer model to capture vessel movement patterns based on speed- and location-related features. We do not process location features directly to avoid learning location-specific context, but take into account tailored delta features. We test our approach on a real-world AIS dataset collected from the Norwegian Sea between Å lesund and Måløy and show its effectiveness in terms of a harmonic mean of purity and coverage, mean absolute error and detection rate on the task of detecting trajectory waypoints compared to a state-of-the-art approach. We also show the effectiveness of the trained model on the trajectories obtained from two other regions, the North Sea (London and Rotterdam) and the North Atlantic Ocean (Setubal and Gibraltar), on which the model has not been trained. The experiments indicate that our interpolation-enabled transformer design provides improvements in the safety of the estimated waypoints.

Cooperation between vessel service providers can improve the performance of ports. However, the potential impact of such cooperation has not yet been quantitatively addressed in the literature. We present an assessment using a port simulation model where the exchange of information has been made explicit. Cooperation is modelled as information exchange between the pilotage and towage service providers for the deployment of pilots and tugboats. A first application of the model is shown for the case of Port of Rotterdam. We find that time savings of up to 30% in waiting times can be achieved, while both service providers improve their performance. These findings provide empirical confirmation of the expected benefits of cooperation in ports as voiced in the literature. Furthermore, the results underscore the importance of moving beyond an ad-hoc synchronizations of these services towards systematic cooperation, to the benefit of ports as well as the service providers.

Port clusters are expected to play a significant role in the transition towards a circular economy, both at the level of facilitating regional and global transport within circular production chains, as well as hosting circular activities in port areas. There is strong evidence that significant investments in the circular economy (CE) are being made in port areas, albeit without much knowledge on their impacts. To ensure an efficient use of port resources in view of this transition, these impacts should be adequately monitored. Research on circular economy indicators for ports is still in an exploratory stage, characterized by an absence of in-depth research on the development of port-related circular economy indicators. This paper focuses on the development of a comprehensive set of relevant and feasible CE indicators, which aim to support port managing bodies (PMBs) as well as port stakeholders to monitor the CE transition taking place. Through multimethod qualitative research, including content analysis, focus groups, a gap analysis and a qualitative survey, an actionable list of CE 12 indicators for ports was developed. Seven of which are highly feasible and five of which have medium feasibility in terms of stakeholder relevance and ease of implementation. Findings related to (1) the overall limited CE ambition levels of PMBs and (2) the difference in the values of some indicators for different port typologies are also discussed. The value of this study for practitioners lies in providing them with an actionable set of KPIs which can support their efforts and communication related to their CE transition.

The transition towards a circular economy (CE) has grown in importance during the last decade, and ports are now being viewed as potentially important contributors to this move towards a more sustainable economy. However, several research questions about adopting CE projects in ports remain unanswered. The importance of clustering and secondary resources for circular loops indicates the importance of proximity to either industrial clusters or urban zones. However, gateway ports (GWP), contrary to industrial ports, metropolitan (or urban) ports and diversified port hubs (which combine an industrial function with the proximity to a large urban area), do not benefit from the vicinity of these secondary resources. Nevertheless, even without access to such secondary resources, any port and port managing body (PMB) needs to prepare for the changing competitive landscape, with new cargo flows, material streams and related businesses linked to the circular economy transition of value chains. Here, GWPs, thanks to their nodal position, still have potential to function as platforms for circular transition initiatives arising in other industries. In the present study, we conceptualize a CE transition process, consisting of six steps, especially relevant to GWPs. We then explore the case of the Port of Zeebrugge (Belgium), shortly before its merger with the Port of Antwerp. We propose that GWPs should rely mainly on their potential to attract ‘new value streams’ as the main driver of their CE strategy. Here, top-down initiatives emanating from internal stakeholders, and likely even external ones, appear to provide pathways to CE success.

The legislators of the European Union (EU) have agreed on the FuelEU Maritime regulation, so far, the world's most ambitious pathway to maritime decarbonisation. FuelEU Maritime establishes a common EU regulatory framework to stimulate an increased share of renewable and low-carbon fuels in the fuel mix of international maritime transport. This article analyses, through the lens of the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the policy process leading to the political agreement on the FuelEU Maritime regulation. Core beliefs of two different advocacy coalitions including the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, EU Member States, the European Parliament and different IGs are identified like Transport & Environment and the European Community Shipping Association, as are the paths to policy change. The agreement on the FuelEU Maritime regulation follows the Paris Agreement and the following international discussions on how to curb the climate impact from shipping, the presentation of the ‘European Green Deal’ with a European Climate Law and the presentation of a broad package of EU climate, energy and transport legislation. In addition, it is a result of problem-solving bargaining between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.

This article enquires into the emerging governance function of port authorities as system builders in the development of cross-border technological innovation systems, i.e., cross-border regionalization. The argument is that port authorities, as hybrid organizations, possess a unique combination of resources allowing them to act as system builders and thus complement policymakers and other key decision-makers in solving transboundary governance issues. The empirical setting of the study is the Danish Port Esbjerg and the strategic system building activities performed by the Esbjerg port authority towards the ambitious European visions for expansion of the North Sea offshore wind industry, a key vision for the decarbonization of Europe. Particularly, Port Esbjerg assumes a leading role in cross-border networks and partnerships and contributes to solving transboundary governance issues by mobilizing and shaping its locational assets to fit the needs of the offshore wind industry and by international cooperation and partnerships with like-minded offshore ports.

The operation of a port is of critical economic importance because of its role in international trade. However, increased operations increase the port's environmental impact and contribute to climate change and global warming. Dublin Port is one of the busiest ports in Ireland, and throughput is expected to increase as the economy continues to grow. Achieving a balance between growing economic activity and reducing environmental impacts is critical to a sustainable future. The efficiency of the port considering operation, economic, and environmental factors can be evaluated using the well-known nonparametric model of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). In this study, a novel two-stage non-radial DEA model is used to evaluate the environmental efficiency of Dublin Port considering landward and seaward operations. The proposed two-stage model DEA isolates the efficiency of the two port sides and calculates the overall efficiency. The model minimizes Dublin Port's annual CO₂ emissions by reducing a combination of variables that can be realistically controlled by engineering and policy measures. The analysis was extended to account for possible variations in a number of key environmental output factors to compensate for the lack of real-world data availability. The study found that the number of terminals and capital expenditures have significant impacts on the port's environmental efficiency. Small adjustments or reductions in key indicators can improve Dublin Port's efficiency. This methodology can be applied to other ports in growing economies that use similar indicators to assess their environmental efficiency.

Within the transportation sector, ships and seaports constitute a significant portion. During the last decade, there has been a rise in the containerization era. This paper quantifies the relationship between seaport activity and GDP per capita while addressing Cross-sectional Dependence and slope heterogeneity issues in 28 OECD countries from 2000 to 2019. Suitable proxies for economic development and seaport activity are subjected to panel data analysis. Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag is used, and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group and Augmented Mean Group are employed for the Robustness check. Seaport activity has a positive long-term relationship with income per capita. Country-specific effects are also used to highlight the relative strength of the relationship across sample countries. Panel Granger causality shows the feedback effect between seaport activity and GDP per capita. Causality is also investigated using the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test, which is suitable for heterogeneous panels in the presence of cross-sectional dependence. Recommendations include the lessons for carefully appraised investments and standardization of operations in the seaport industry in OECD countries.