Sustainability and strategic directions in maritime education and training provision: An exploration of employers’ perceptions

The paper explores the importance of sustainability from the perspective of prospective employers of future and existing Maritime Education and Training (MET) graduates. More specifically, it investigates employers’ views on the incorporation of sustainability into MET provision. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey that addresses the concept of sustainability – among other emerging trends - from the angle of maritime education and training was distributed to European shipowning companies in the context of related EU funded research (SkillSea). A total of 23 responses were received but, albeit the relatively small sample, the findings suggest clearly that there is a significant gap between the skills presently acquired through MET. They also reveal the need for METs to develop a strategy aiming at a more comprehensive inclusion of the mega-trend of sustainability as a subject into the curricula of the various types of MET institutions. This paper contributes to the literature by addressing the mismatch between current and future needs and related issues arising for maritime education and training.Peer Reviewe

What price the flag? The terms of competitiveness in shipping

The recovery of the markets in the late 1980s proved to be insufficient in restoring the traditional western registries to anywhere near their levels before the long period of crisis triggered off in 1973. The recent downturn in the dry bulk sector has triggered again the discussion on the role of manning costs and the terms of registration of ships. Yet, as demonstrated by the different impact of the crisis of the 1970s and the 1980s on the various major fleets, the resilience of shipping companies is a much more complex issue. This article attempts to assess to what extent the prerequisites for being competitive in shipping exceed the simple -- and simplistic -- notion of low manning costs; reviewing the last developments in fleet registration, with a special focus on the Greek flag, It highlights further the different context in which business and policy decisions have to be taken nowadays by traditional maritime nations.Shipping competitiveness Greek shipping Flagging-out

Chapter 2 A Fleet for the 21st Century: Modern Greek Shipping

Just before the millennium, prospects for Greek-owned shipping looked grim for the first time after many years of almost uninterrupted - and always impressive - expansion. The age of Greek-owned ships coupled with its heavy specialisation in ship types that found themselves in a sea of regulatory changes seemed as a combination of challenges that Greek shipping would not be able to handle this time. Yet, the legendary flexibility and market "feel" of the Greek-shipping community led to the Greek-owned fleet not only transiting successfully into the 21st century at the leading position in world shipping hierarchy, but also building solidly on its existing strengths while venturing into new areas. This chapter reviews this course focusing on changes in the specialisation and age of the Greek-owned fleet.

Does quality pay? The case of the dry bulk market

Following important changes in the safety regulation of tankers, the dry bulk sector is coming under the spotlight in a safety and quality perspective. Nominal freight differentiation between 'quality' and 'other' tonnage has been observed occasionally and much lip service has been paid to promoting the need for younger and safer ships. Whether or not these signals actually manifest in a market initiative for the enhancement of the standards of the world bulk carrier fleet is debatable. This paper investigates the possible existence of a two-tier spot freight market for medium and large bulk carriers of differing age. Known voyage fixtures are investigated for four representative years since the end of the 1980s, during which contrasting freight market conditions prevailed. In all but very few cases, there was no statistically significant difference between rates paid to older and younger tonnage. In those few cases where such differences were statistically significant, they never exceeded 10%.Shipping economics Dry-bulk markets Two-tier freight markets

Iron restriction inside macrophages regulates pulmonary host defense against Rhizopus species.

Mucormycosis is a life-threatening respiratory fungal infection predominantly caused by Rhizopus species. Mucormycosis has incompletely understood pathogenesis, particularly how abnormalities in iron metabolism compromise immune responses. Here we show how, as opposed to other filamentous fungi, Rhizopus spp. establish intracellular persistence inside alveolar macrophages (AMs). Mechanistically, lack of intracellular swelling of Rhizopus conidia results in surface retention of melanin, which induces phagosome maturation arrest through inhibition of LC3-associated phagocytosis. Intracellular inhibition of Rhizopus is an important effector mechanism, as infection of immunocompetent mice with swollen conidia, which evade phagocytosis, results in acute lethality. Concordantly, AM depletion markedly increases susceptibility to mucormycosis. Host and pathogen transcriptomics, iron supplementation studies, and genetic manipulation of iron assimilation of fungal pathways demonstrate that iron restriction inside macrophages regulates immunity against Rhizopus. Our findings shed light on the pathogenetic mechanisms of mucormycosis and reveal the role of macrophage-mediated nutritional immunity against filamentous fungi

Author Correction: Iron restriction inside macrophages regulates pulmonary host defense against Rhizopus species

The original version of this Article contained an error in the spelling of the author Emilien Etienne, which was incorrectly given as Emilien Ettiene. These errors have now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article

Author Correction: Iron restriction inside macrophages regulates pulmonary host defense against Rhizopus species.

The original version of this Article contained an error in the spelling of the author Emilien Etienne, which was incorrectly given as Emilien Ettiene. These errors have now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article