Use of low smoke and halogen free cables for marine fire safety design

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 less 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 from PVC and LSOH cables used in ships have beenobtained. 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.Postprint (published version

Study on the license requirements for pleasure boats in the european union

Many European countries require the skippers of a pleasure craft to be able to provide evidence of their competence. The pleasure craft operator card or boating license permits people operate a pleasure craft. One of the requirements of this license is intended to decrease the number of boat accidents. This paper analysis the regulation related on recreational boat licensing of some European Union (EU) members. As a result of this study, no uniformity at European Union in terms of the requirements for sailing in pleasure boats can be proven. It is also important to note that requirements for obtaining the licenses and the personal training of each future skipper are different depending on the member state of the European Union. So this diversity of training criteria should be regulated and standardized equity for all member states. The main purpose of this paper is to make clear that in the European Union there is a lack of coordination in this area, highlighting the differences training patterns depending on the member state in which the skipper has obtained the license and indicate the need to unify the training and licensing for recreational boating.Postprint (published version

Educació i desenvolupament humà sostenible: l'exemple de l'impacte mediambiental en el transport de mercaderies

Es descriu una experiència docent relacionada amb l’eficiència del transport de mercaderies i el seu impacte mediambiental a partir de la recerca que han estat desenvolupant els darrers anys.Peer Reviewe

Iberian motorways of the sea. An overview after 15 years of of Van Miert report

After 15 years of the Van Miert report proposing to include the Motorways of the Sea in the TEN-T schema, an overview wants to be done in the Iberian Peninsula scenario. In 2015 the Intra European trade (Eurostat, 2017) supposed around 11,263.4 millions of tons, being through Short Sea Shipping (SSS) up to 1.808,5 millions of tons and only the 13.6 % on Ro/Ro trades (246.04 millions of tons or the 2.2 % over the total volumes). In the case of Spanish Short Sea Shipping traffics raised to 196.668 millions of tons (234.7 millions of tons in 2016 from www.spc-spain.es) being only 15.33 millions of tonnes or 7.8 % under Ro/Ro schema. Keeping in mind these figures, it is asked which rate of success should be acquired with the maritime transport promotion policies in European Union. The proposed paper wants to analyse in deep, which reasons could explain the low volumes that still Intra European Short Sea Shipping gets. The analysis will begin with a review of the SSS and Motor Ways of the Sea official definition and after having a complete overview of traffic figures, to propose a model to analyse the best mode to connect different Iberian destinations offered to Consignors, in an attempt to transfer part of the cargo from road to sea option.Postprint (author's final draft

Analysis of the external costs of selected short sea shipping vesels against the road alternative

The paper shows an analisys based on environmental criteia, of certain selected mulimodal routas withg a short sea transport leg

Enhancement of Maritime Safety and Economic Benefits of Short Sea Shipping Ship Routing

The relevance of ship routing system is increasing according to the mitigation of carbon emissions and enhance the maritime safety. New generation of high-resolution meteo-oceanographic predictions provides useful tools for routing of ship. However, scientific efforts have been focused on inter-oceanic routes. This contribution investigates the economic benefits and improvement on maritime safety of ship routing of Short Sea Shipping (SSS) routes. The investigation is supported with the development of a ship routing system based on a path finding algorithm and meteo-oceanographic predications. Results show that the economic benefits using ship routing in SSS is estimated in percentage of the total cost during energetic wave episodes. The work establishes the basis of further developments in optimal route applied in relatively short-distances and its systematic use in the SSS maritime industry. In this work, the optimal ship routing analysis is investigated in a relative short distance maritime route between Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca (Spain). Dijkstra algorithm is implemented in order to obtain the optimal path under an energetic wave event. The methodology is based on the inclusion of the drag resistance due to waves. The results reveal how the wave direction has a relevant role in the optimum path due to the relative direction with the ship and the enhancement of the navigational safety.Postprint (published version

Theorical and descriptive analysis of the wave energy in the Barcelona World Race

The main objective of this paper is the presentation of a theoretical study of the wave energy in some zones of the Barcelona World Race (BWR) considering different theories, how much of this energy is transferred to the boat and if it is possible to use that energy, as propulsion energy. Nowadays, the absorption of wave energy (offshore, inshore or on board) is low utilized and has important costs. That makes this subject become more interesting. The first section of this paper is a study of the movement of the waves with different descriptions and of the energy potential depending on characteristic’s value. Secondly, a categorization of the wave’s characteristics is done of a part of BWR with the objective to be able to do an energy atlas of different areas. After that, a model of the vertical motion (simplified motion) is done in order to express the energy which is in the kinetic phase difference between the wave action and the boat reaction. Finally, all factors in the synchronism motion between wave and boat have been evaluated (in surf navigation) in order to analyze the results of equilibrium and the result force with different power propulsion.Postprint (published version

Empowering teachers in maritime education and training (MET) through gender-equality training: A bottom-up approach for the implementation of current legislation

An increasing awareness of gender equality in the maritime sector is notable in recent years. While it is a good step forward, gender equality is often integrated into a diversity management agenda for leaders, but it is unclear how to apply the philosophy of gender equality in Maritime Education and Training (MET) led by teachers. It is evident that top-down approaches for the implementation of gender policies are often insufficient to achieve gender equality because they may fail to provide tools for an effective application and to recognize and consider the autonomy of practitioners who can actively contribute to gender equality with their work in different useful manners. The paper argues that bottom-up approaches can become an efficient method for the incorporation of gender mainstreaming by increasing the participation of practitioners and actively involving them in transforming their attitudes, practices and work methods. A balance between top-down and bottom-up approaches seems a desirable option as it combines the efficiency and leadership of the top-down approach with the collaborative advantages that come from the whole team. Finally, the paper addresses the role of the IAMU community to work together for gender equality in the context of MET.Postprint (published version

Wave height incidence on Mediterranean Short Sea Shipping routes

Keeping in mind the close date for publishing the list of ports included in the MoS network we are going to analyse what type of vessel is going to fit best in some of the proposed ports, for ensuring a real modal shift. Once understood the sea transport importance, the sea conditions and specifically the wave highness analysis, is the topic to be dealt in this paper, as a contribution to recommend the ship better fit on a route, keeping in mind her sensitivity to sea and waves

The next step on the maritime education and training in the era of autonomous shipping

The development of autonomous shipping is in continuous growth; technology evolution is going on faster steps and new projects are being developed looking for more efficient, more sustainable and safer shipping operations. Autonomous vessels feature a technology that uses a large range of physical sensors to control autonomous functions, as well as a high advance monitoring and control systems, including the use of the newest communications technology. This technological emergence has been driving concerns about the decline in the number of seafarers and jobs, which are expected to be replaced by Artificial Intelligence and the Autonomous Systems. However, the trend will be the opportunity for new businesses and job creation, which will require highly skilled crews and operators. As far as further steps are being developed on higher autonomy, the landscape of jobs related to seafarers will change. For instance, remote operations will transfer most of the seafarers to land-based control centres, causing that the main skills to be developed should drive to more expertise in technology, communication and network administrators without losing the standards as per STCW Convention. This literature review addresses this new and emerging topic to lead to an initial conceptualization of the new Maritime Education and Training (MET) framework and find eliciting information for developing new academic assessment. At the end, this contribution discusses published research in the era of autonomous shipping in order to describe the next step for MET, developing qualifications standards for the new crew and on-shore operators.Peer Reviewe