MONALISA 2.0 and the sea traffic management - a concept creating the need for new maritime information standards and software solutions

Postprint (published version

Closing the Gap: Comparing Tuna Rfmo Port State Measures with the Fao Agreement on Port State Measures

The Pew Environment Group has conducted a gap analysis comparing the port State measures (PSMs) established by 10 Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) with those established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA, or Agreement). The research assessed the extent to which measures adopted by these RFMOs meet the PSMA standards, and identified those aspects that need to be further developed by each RFMO in order for its measures to become aligned with the Agreement's. The newly adopted PSMA sets an international minimum standard on PSMs and provides a unique opportunity to harmonise and strengthen port State controls globally. RFMOs have a special role to play in this process, specifically in helping to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing on the high seas. This report presents the final results of the gap analysis research conducted for the five tuna RFMOs based on information that was publicly available up to 30 April 2011. As part of our methodology, we shared the preliminary results of each RFMO gap analysis with the Secretariats of all 10 RFMOs and, through them, also with their Contracting Parties (CPs). We would like to thank those RFMO Secretariats and CPs that provided us with comments, many of which were extensive. We have taken all the comments received into consideration and revised our preliminary analyses where necessary. The analysis focused on a single set of tools available to combat IUU fishing, namely PSMs adopted by RFMOs, and did not examine other measures adopted by governments or any of the reviewed RFMOs, such as flag State controls or market measures not taken at port. Our assessment of the degree of conformity between each RFMO's PSMs and the PSMA does not reflect the overall performance of that RFMO in its efforts to combat IUU fishing. The aim of this exercise was to identify specific gaps in PSMs adopted by these RFMOs as they compare to the PSMA, and to make clear recommendations on how they could be strengthened. The goal of this research is to offer information that RFMOs could use to strengthen their own port State control systems and, as a result, contribute to enhanced harmonisation of PSMs across tuna fisheries around the world, with the aim of helping to further combat IUU fishing. With the exception of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), which has adopted a resolution that includes most of the substantive duties of the PSMA, overall the tuna RFMOs do not meet the new international minimum standard set by the PSMA. In particular, they do not have strong PSMs in place and the PSMs that they have adopted are quite fragmented. Our analysis shows the following gaps: ? few requirements to share information between States and RFMOs; ? inadequate designation of ports for entry of foreign vessels; ? poor prior-to-entry information requirements for vessels approaching ports; ? insufficient restrictive measures for IUU fishing vessels, e.g. denial of port services, landing or transshiping; ? generally weak inspection systems; ? limited duties for flag States to cooperate with port State actions. We recognise that IUU fishing on the high seas is a common challenge for all RFMOs and that IUU fishing vessels are not limited to one ocean or RFMO Convention Area. Thus, the more that RFMOs apply a common standard on PSMs, the better able they will be to address this challenge. The comparative analyses undertaken here point to clear steps that RFMOs can take if they want to reach the new international standard provided by the PSMA, and thus make significant progress in combating IUU fishing

Haiti Earthquake January 2010: What Actions and Policies Can the Government of Haiti Implement to Improve Emergency Management Response

In 2010, Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake that destroyed much of its capital city and the governmental offices that should have guided the response to the disaster. This research focuses on how Haiti can benefit from the Caribbean Disaster Management Agency’s standards for disaster resilience as it works to recover from the earthquake. Unfortunately, Haiti has long been dependent on assistance from non-governmental organizations due to its extreme poverty; its recovery is complicated by the need to integrate disaster assistance and on-going economic and social assistance into its development of a more resilient society

Port choice by intra-regional container service operators : an application of decision-making techniques to liner services between Malaysian and other Asian ports

Intra-regional container service operators are challenged to design regular and reliable liner services connecting regional ports at the lowest cost and shortest transit time while considering customer demand. This paper focuses on the selection of ports of call in regular intra-regional container services, an under-researched part of the container shipping market. A combination of decision-making techniques (i.e. Analytical Hierarchy Process, fuzzy link-based and Evidential Reasoning) are presented to assist intra-regional container service operators in selecting ports of call. The proposed methodology is empirically applied to container services between Malaysian and other nearby Asian ports. While Port Klang is the main gateway to Malaysia, the results show that other Malaysian ports should play a more prominent role in accommodating intra-Asian container services. This research can assist maritime stakeholders in evaluating intra-regional port-to-port liner service configurations. Furthermore, the novel mix of decision-making techniques complements and enriches existing academic literature on port choice and liner service configuration

Sustainable seabed mining: guidelines and a new concept for Atlantis II Deep

The feasibility of exploiting seabed resources is subject to the engineering solutions, and economic prospects. Due to rising metal prices, predicted mineral scarcities and unequal allocations of resources in the world, vast research programmes on the exploration and exploitation of seabed minerals are presented in 1970s. Very few studies have been published after the 1980s, when predictions were not fulfilled. The attention grew back in the last decade with marine mineral mining being in research and commercial focus again and the first seabed mining license for massive sulphides being granted in Papua New Guinea’s Exclusive Economic Zone.Research on seabed exploitation and seabed mining is a complex transdisciplinary field that demands for further attention and development. Since the field links engineering, economics, environmental, legal and supply chain research, it demands for research from a systems point of view. This implies the application of a holistic sustainability framework of to analyse the feasibility of engineering systems. The research at hand aims to close this gap by developing such a framework and providing a review of seabed resources. Based on this review it identifies a significant potential for massive sulphides in inactive hydrothermal vents and sediments to solve global resource scarcities. The research aims to provide background on seabed exploitation and to apply a holistic systems engineering approach to develop general guidelines for sustainable seabed mining of polymetallic sulphides and a new concept and solutions for the Atlantis II Deep deposit in the Red Sea.The research methodology will start with acquiring a broader academic and industrial view on sustainable seabed mining through an online survey and expert interviews on seabed mining. In addition, the Nautilus Minerals case is reviewed for lessons learned and identification of challenges. Thereafter, a new concept for Atlantis II Deep is developed that based on a site specific assessment.The research undertaken in this study provides a new perspective regarding sustainable seabed mining. The main contributions of this research are the development of extensive guidelines for key issues in sustainable seabed mining as well as a new concept for seabed mining involving engineering systems, environmental risk mitigation, economic feasibility, logistics and legal aspects

Evolution of green shipping research: themes and methods

Over the past 30 years, there have been growing concerns on theenvironmental impacts of maritime transportation, which have attractedgreat attention from both academia and practitioners. Understandingdevelopments in this area can help guide future research. We conducteda comprehensive review of green shipping research, comprising 213papers published in transportation journals in SSCI of 2017 over theperiod 1988–2017. We find that research on green shipping hasincreased greatly since 2012, accounting for 77.5% of the reviewedpapers. The main focus today on green shipping was on air pollution,and the classification of green shipping practice, such as technical measures,operational options, market-based measures, and recycling andreusing, is becoming clear. According to the existing studies, futureresearch on green shipping must strengthen technology research tonot only solve practical problems, but also to establish a theoreticalgreen shipping system. Moreover, researchers from different countriescould cooperate with each other to give effective suggestions on settingstandards and laws of green shipping. Finally, we identify the futureresearch themes will focus on setting up green shipping system andlegislation and policy

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing: A Whitepaper

Illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing refers to fishing activities that do not comply with regional, national, or international fisheries conservation or management measures. This whitepaper characterizes the status of Illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, the philanthropic community's current efforts to help reduce it, and potential opportunities for the Packard Foundation to become more actively engaged. The paper was drafted between March and June 2015, following a combination of desk research and a handful of select interviews