Management tools for implementation and monitoring of requirements for enforcement of reducing sulphur oxides on ships: Latvia and Lithuania cases

The main type of bunker oil for ships is heavy fuel oil, derived as а residue from crude oil distillation. Crude oil contains sulphur which, following combustion in the engine, ends up in ship emissions. Sulphur oxides (SOx) are known to be harmful to human health, causing respiratory symptoms and lung diseases. Limiting SOx emissions from ships will improve air quality and protect the environment. From 1 January 2020, the limit for sulphur in fuel oil used on board ships operating outside designated emission control areas is reduced to 0,50% m/m. However, there are varying degrees of readiness among port and flag states for implementation and monitoring of requirements for enforcement of reducing Sulphur oxides on ships. In this paper are described management tools of states for implementing the inspection on Sulphur in ships fuel, analysed the states institutions activities for the enforcement of reducing Sulphur oxides on ships, and indicated the possibilities of increasing effectiveness of the management tools in Latvia and Lithuania.

Forecast of oil slick drift from Ulysse/ CSL Virginia and Grande America accidents

number 1141410 Two recent accidents with a significant oil spill occurred near the French coast. One in the Mediterranean Sea and the other in the Bay of Biscay. On October 7, 2018, the Tunisian ro-ro vessel Ulysses collided with the Cypriot container ship CSL Virginia at anchor off northern Corsica. The spilled bunker oil could not be fully recovered by the French and Italian anti-pollution vessels due to unfavourable weather conditions. Pellets and highly viscous patties arrived on the beaches of the French Riviera on October 16, 2018. The beaching dates and locations of the main slicks were perfectly predicted using the MOTHY drift model combined with the currents of the CMEMS MED-Currents system. On March 12, 2019, the merchant ship Grande America sank at a depth of 4600 m, 350 km off the French coast, in the Bay of Biscay. It caused a spill of bunker oil and loss of containers. The MOTHY drift model is used daily during the aerial surveillance and recovery at sea period. It provides drift forecasts for oil slicks and containers up to 3 days in deterministic mode and up to 10 days in probabilistic mode. Long-term modelling of residual diffused pollution is also carried out, in particular to manage continuous leakage from the wreck. A technical committee of experts meets daily to evaluate drift observations and forecasts. It focuses on the best choices of available ocean models. Drift forecasts did not indicate any oil arrival to the coast. This allowed the authorities to organise the response at sea without mobilising resources ashore. Indeed, no pollution was observed on the coasts.

Karakteristik Marshall pada Campuran Aspal Dingin dengan Asbuton Akibat Dari Penggunaan Aditif Wetfix-BE

West Nusa Tenggara Province consists of two main islands namely Lombok and Sumbawa. Regency Roads on Lombok Island, especially rural roads, has been severely damaged due to lack of routine maintenance. The types of damage that occur are cracks, small holes, and even large pools that endanger road users. This study aims to obtain a mixture of new materials in order to obtain an easy and fast repair method without reducing the quality during its intended life. In the meantime, repairing with CAD (cold asphalt mixture) requires curing time of 3x24 hours to achieve standard material quality with Marshall Characteristics according to the 2010 Bina Marga Specifications. This study combines CAD using BP (rejuvenating agent) and Wetfix-BE additive to get optimal results without curing process. The BP used is asphalt mixture, kerosene, and bunker oil stirred in a mixing machine into one unit. The results showed the optimum concentration of this mixture was 0.3% wet-be additive, 4.50% BP in CAD with asbuton proportion of 25%. In the fatigue test with a cyclic loading of 100 kPa, the pavement mixture is able to resist a fully loaded truck of 7731 times. In conclusion, this mixture combination is able to speed up the asphalt binding time by making briquettes according to the 2018 Highways Specifications without going through the long curing process.

Observations on the habitat, color polymorphism, and sexual system of the semi-terrestrial shrimp Merguia oligodon (De Man, 1888) (Decapoda: Caridea: Merguiidae)

We report the semi-terrestrial shrimp Merguia oligodon (De Man, 1888) (Merguiidae Christofferson, 1987) from surveys of the mangrove forests fringing Taklong Island, Guimaras, Western Visayas, Philippines. This remarkable species is capable of walking and even jumping on dry land. We found that the Taklong Island population is fully nocturnal, and during night-time low tides the shrimp are found in small aggregations under logs well above the water line, while during night-time high tides they occur singly just above the water line or about a centimeter below the water surface. Observations of sexual characters indicate that M. oligodon is likely a protandric hermaphrodite, which has implications for the probable ancestral condition in caridean shrimps. Live color patterns appear to change ontogenetically and are not identical with other reported populations elsewhere in the Indo-West Pacific. The mangroves of Taklong Island were heavily impacted by the 2006 M/T Solar I oil spill, and the presence of M. oligodon in this mangrove forest is a sign of recovery from the effects of the bunker-oil spill.

International liability and compensation regimes as a tool of strengthening the balance between shipping economy and marine environment protection

The basic requirements concerning the marine environmental protection introduced under auspices of the IMO refers to ship’s construction and ship’s operation and are recognized as a technical in nature or connected with seafarers qualifications. The aim of the article is to emphasis the importance of private law instruments, especially financial security instruments as a tool of strengthening the maritime safety and marine environmental protection in the recent IMO’ works. Attempts to create global system of liability and compensation, especially by introducing the financial security instruments, stays in line with the IMO’s public policy and aims to increase the effectiveness of the international safety standards at sea. Firstly that new instrument has been introduced as a response to environmental threats inherent in carriage of oil as cargo. Soon it became a standard provision of many others environmental threats, such as hazardous and noxious substances, bunker oil or wreck removal and lately introduced to Maritime Labour Convention prepared under ILO’s auspices. By analyzing provisions of selected maritime conventions, Authors aim to demonstrate that the financial security instruments are seen not only as a commercial tools supporting the claimants chance to obtain full/adequate compensation but also as an element of strengthening public goals.

Conversion from a Single-Hull to a Double-Hull Oil Barge, Keeping the Load Capacity

This document consists of a description of the project for converting a bunker oil barge from single-hull to double-hull, for this to meet the regulations of the maritime authority of Peru and the rules of the RINA Classification Society. It is exposed to the Owner, technical and economic options, in order to bring to him the best solution in time and budget. Also, is brought into discussion, the benefit to the owner that it would be of converting the outer hull. So as well, is presented, the challenges faced during the production process and the solutions adopted by the engineering team and shipyard production.

Optimization of Nanobubble-Assisted Bunker Oil Flotation from Oil-Wet Sand via Response Surface Methodology (RSM)

Flotation technology is an effective method for the separation of oil from sand via gas-liquid-solid system. The mechanism of flotation lies in the generation of gas bubble that attaches itself to the hydrophobic particles. Therefore, one of the main parameters which could affect the efficiency of flotation is the bubble size distribution. This research aims to investigate the efficiency of nanobubbles (NBs) in the flotation process to remove high density bunker oil from oil/sand slurry in a laboratory-scale flotation cell. Experiments were carried out using NBs (approximate diameter of 200 nm) generated via ultrasonication for the flotation studies. In this investigation, four different variables including amplitude (sonication power), pH, duration of sonication (min) and input flowrate of NBs (ml/s) were studied. The second order response function was used for obtaining flotation efficiency, and was further optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) to maximize flotation efficiency within the experimentally studied range. The optimum parameters were found to be, 70% amplitude, pH 12, 10 min of flotation and an input flowrate of 57 ml/s to achieve the predicted maximum flotation efficiency of 19.83%. This was in agreement to the experimental results which show an optimum flotation efficiency of 19.98%. The test results indicated that the use of NBs alone provided unsatisfactory flotation. Even though NBs (larger surface area) are expected to increase the bubble-particle attachment and decrease the detachment probabilities, the low buoyancy/low rising velocity of NBs prevents efficient flotation despite the advantages they have. Future studies would include the optimization of bubble size to improve the flotation efficiency