A procedure for identifying significant environmental aspects in sea ports

A new methodology has been designed to identify and rank the significant environmental aspects in sea ports. The main objective of the Strategic Overview of Significant Environmental Aspects (SOSEA) is to help port managers to identify significant environmental aspects and to reinforce the awareness about them in order to prioritise work in environmental management. Developed in close collaboration with port environmental managers and tested in a set of ports, it is a user-friendly tool that can be applied in approximately half a working day. It is based on ISO 14001 vocabulary and requirements and it can be considered as the base for the implementation of any Environmental Management System for port communities.     

Development of a system of indicators for sustainable port management

The 1998 project ECOPORT, “Towards A Sustainable Transport Network”, developed by the Valencia Port Authority (VPA), established the bases for implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS) in industrial harbours. The use of data and information shall always be required to develop an efficient EMS. The objective of the present research (INDAPORT) study is to propose a system of sustainable environmental management indicators to be used by any port authorities. All activities performed within a port area are analysed for any potential environmental impacts and risks.

An environmental analysis of port activities has been carried out with the objective of designing the indicators system. Twenty-one corresponding activities have been identified for large industrial ports. Subsequently, the same methodology developed to date will be later applied to other Spanish and European ports. The study has been developed by using an original system and a methodology, which simultaneously use stage diagrams and systemic models (material and energy flow charts). Multi-criteria analysis techniques were used to evaluate potential impacts (identification of factors and evaluation of impacts).     

Handling of waste in ports

A present major problem for ports is arranging adequate reception facilities for ship-generated waste, as the lack of such facilities is a problem to many shipowners. To preserve the environment in and around the ports it is necessary also to deal efficiently with the port-generated waste.

Although international conventions on the retention of waste on board ships for subsequent discharge to shore reception facilities have been ratified by most seafaring nations, a considerable part of the ship-generated waste still goes into the sea. Much of the waste generated in ports will also be dumped in quantities that at least affect the local marine environment. The regulations governing the handling of port-generated waste are often national and/or local legislation, whereas the handling of ship-generated waste is governed by the MARPOL Convention in most parts of the world.

The handling of waste consists of two main phases—collection and treatment. Waste has to be collected in every port and on board every ship, whereas generally only some wastes are treated and to a certain degree in ports and on board ships.

This paper considers the different kinds of waste generated in both ports and on board ships, where and how it is generated, how it could be collected and treated. The two sources are treated together to show how some ship-generated waste may be treated in port installations primarily constructed for the treatment of the port-generated waste, making integrated use of the available treatment facilities.

The different types of wastes can be divided into different categories. A world-wide accepted categorization of ship-generated waste has been established in the MARPOL 73/78 Convention. This will also be used for grouping the port-generated waste.     

A Discrete Point Sampler for Ground Water Monitoring Wells

A discrete point sampler has been developed that overcomes disadvantages inherent in several current small-volume samplers. It is designed to obtain ground water samples after a well has been purged with a pump. It consists of a sample chamber, two ports, and a stopcock for withdrawing sample aliquots. After lowering the sampler into a well, sampling is initiated by pulling on a line that sequentially removes the plugs in the lower and the upper level ports. The sample chamber fills from the bottom port and vents air from the top port. The device is suitable for sampling for volatile organic compounds in ground waters that are not subject to spontaneous bubble degassing. The upper port is sufficiently far above the lower port that none of the water that is sampled is exposed to the vented air. The sample chamber fills in such a way that the water that is taken from the chamber for analysis is not exposed to the headspace in the chamber.     

Probabilistic assessment for seismic performance of port structures

Past experience has shown that ports are often susceptible to severe damage during earthquakes. From field damage data of 1995 Kobe earthquake, it is observed that the seismic behavior of port structures shows significant variability. In this study, a 2D numerical model, representing PC1 berth located in Port Island, Kobe and damaged in the 1995 Kobe earthquake, has been developed and used to simulate seismic behavior. It has been found that the uncertainties in the friction angle and the shear modulus of reclaimed soil contribute most to the variability of the residual horizontal displacement (RHD) response of the quay wall of port structures. To investigate the propagation of uncertainties of soil–structure system to the quay wall, a tornado diagram and a first-order second-moment analysis are used. Uncertainty of ground motions has also been investigated. Based on the results, design considerations have been provided.     

Can we always ignore ship-generated food waste?

Considerable quantities of food waste can be generated at a rapid rate in ships, particularly those with large numbers of people onboard. By virtue of the amounts involved and its nature, food waste is potentially the most difficult to manage component of a ship's garbage stream, however, in most sea areas it may be dealt with by the simple expedient of direct discharge to sea. As a consequence, only minimal attention is paid to food waste management by many ship and port operators and advisory bodies, and there is a paucity of information in the available literature. The determination that management of ships' food waste is inconsequential is, however, incorrect in many circumstances. Disposal to sea is not always possible due to restrictions imposed by MARPOL 73/78 and other marine pollution control instruments. Effective management of food waste can be critical for ships that operate in areas where disposal is restricted or totally prohibited.     

Economic and environmental impacts on ports and harbors from the convention to ban harmful marine anti-fouling systems

The recent Diplomatic Conference held (1-5 October 2001) by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London adopted the Draft Convention prepared by The Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) of IMO for the "Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems for Ships." The convention has been developed to immediately ban the use of Tributyltin (TBT) globally in anti-fouling paints to "protect the marine environment". The ban on TBT has come about because TBT has detrimental effects on non-target marine organisms. In November 1999, IMO agreed that a treaty be developed by the MEPC to ensure a ban on the application of TBT based anti-fouling paints by 1 January 2003, and a ban on the use of TBT by 1 January 2008. At the meeting surious concern was expressed by some experts for the need to identify in the treaty the necessary regulatory language for: (1) the "safe" removal, treatment, and disposal of marine anti-foulants deemed "harmful" by the treaty and (2) who is liable for the future dredging and disposal of TBT-contaminated port and harbor sediments--to also "protect the marine environment". The requirement for "safe" removal and disposal was incorporated at MEPC 46 as Article 5 in the treaty, without it shipyards complying with existing national and local discharge regulations (most have none for discharge of TBT) could inadvertently release more TBT to ports and harbors in the five-year compliance period than has been leached from ships (hulls) in the past 40 years to the same waters. Virginia is the only State in the US that regulates the discharge to below 50 ng/l (50 parts per trillion). However, the liability for the future dredging and disposal costs of TBT-contaminated port and harbor sediments has not been addressed.     

The use of the deposit-refund framework in port reception facilities charging systems

The European Union set in place Directive 2000/59/EC with the aim of substantially reducing discharges of ship-generated waste into the sea by improving the availability and use of port reception facilities. According to the Directive, port administrations shall ensure that the cost recovery system must aim to discourage ships from discharging their waste into the sea, while simultaneously placing the burden of costs on ships, in line with the "polluter pays principle". The present paper examines the extent to which the deposit-refund framework could be used in charging systems of port reception facilities. This has been realized through a case study involving a Greek port. Specifically, the charging system proposed here seems to approach quite close to the primary target, i.e. to a charging system that motivates ships to act more environmentally responsible manner regarding their waste, without significantly affecting their total cost nor the competitiveness of the port.     

Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses (PIANC)

The Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses was founded in 1885 with the aim of organizing international conferences for the dissemination of knowledge related to navigation in the field of civil engineering. To date, 28 congresses have been held, now with a four-year interval; the 28th Congress was held in 1994 in Seville, Spain. PIANC has become a leading authority, particularly in the field of engineering. Several studies, for instance on the dimensions of ships and waterways and on signalling, have led to international standardization and PIANC congresses have often recommended further international studies of specific subjects. The congresses are each attended by approximately 900 participants from around 50 countries world-wide. They are state, municipal and harbour officials, consultants, scientists and academics at technical universities, contractors and many other participants from the navigation industry. There is a strong governmental influence in the organization, as the governments of about 40 countries support PIANC both financially and by the participation of senior civil servants.

In the two sections of the congresses, inland navigation and ocean navigation, 10 subjects are discussed. PIANC has always followed recent developments such as trends in shipping, reception facilities for ferries, special arrangements for the handling of containers, oil, gas and of dangerous or environmentally noxious goods. Not only the technical aspects of navigation, such as canals, dams, ports and maritime structures, are discussed, but also economics, port management and port capacity and safety. Environmental aspects, for instance of maintenance dredging and the disposal of dredged materials, are important topics. PIANC has long been interested in coastal problems, as these affect ports. As many ports extend into the sea, PIANC has considered ocean engineering including artificial islands, maritime constructions, salvage and the removal of wrecks and navigation under arctic conditions. PIANC is also active in the field of sport and pleasure navigation. Since 1982 PIANC has organized international working groups to report on specific topics. At present there are about 35 active working groups and 23 reports have been published. Their members are from about 30 countries. They may convene several times each year or work by correspondence. The recommendations of the working groups represent recent advances and are widely distributed. For instance, the report Beneficial Uses of Dredging Material was presented for discussion to the London Dumping Convention. Membership of PIANC is open to organizations and individuals. In most countries a national section is the contact point for the members. The General-Secretariat is in Brussels, Belgium.     

GEOSAT卫星的ERM测高数据处理与中国近海海平面

对ＧＥＯＳＡＴ测高卫星在中国近海区域（０°－３５°Ｎ,１０５°－１２７°Ｅ）以及１２７°－１３５°Ｅ内６个ＥＲＭ周期（１９８７年１月１日－４月１２日）的地球物理数据记录（ＧＤＲ）中的数据进行了编辑和预处理．根据卫星弧段的实际长度选取了混合轨道误差模型,并采用最小二乘技术对上升弧段与下降弧段交叠点处的不符值进行了平差计算．处理结果表明,所选用的方法可以大大地消除径向轨道误差的影响,使交叠点处的不符值由原来的５６ｃｍ（ＲＭＳ）降低到现在的２４ｃｍ（ＲＭＳ）在此基础上,构造出６个１°×１°的中国近海海平面及其平均海平面．该平面被称为＂测高大地水准面＂与美国Ｏｈｉｏ州立大学的ＯＳＵ９１Ａ重力场模型的大地水准面相比,两者具有同等量级的精度及一致的形态。     

Minimising harbour siltation��findings of PIANC Working Group 43

Modern trends, increases in ship size, improved cargo handling capability, sea level rise and erosion threats to low-lying land, undesirable attributes of certain traditional mud dredging and disposal practices, coupled with pressure from environmental legislation, are all driving a need to manage coastal waters and fine sediment in a more sophisticated manner. Wide-ranging review of world ??best practice?? has highlighted five fully evolved northwest European generic sediment management systems (SMS) to address these challenges. These are being applied to universally recurring types of port facilities: impounded docks, lock entrances, semi-enclosed basins, channels and fairways. They are applicable to large and small, existing and new facilities in rivers, estuaries, open sea coasts, even in some cases to lakes. They can be passive or active. The functioning of each of these five is explained with comment on economic benefit. What emerges strongly is that the applied academic disciplines of physical and chemical oceanography, plus marine microbiology, are being drawn together to supplement or replace traditional maritime engineering. Following on from a Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses review, these technologies are spreading beyond the northwest European conception area, as well as beginning to be adopted by international dredging companies. The complexity, scale of potential benefit, numbers of poorly understood issues highlighted and embryonic way these are beginning to spread all suggest that this is potentially an important area for future scientific endeavour.     

国家地震应急救援物资综合管理平台建设

针对目前中国地震应急救援物资管理中办法互有差异、系统各有不同,信息化和标准化程度较低,难以统计物资储备的现状,且不易在震后应急救援中对物资进行快速合理地调度等问题,提出数据资源化、业务标准化和服务智能化的解决方案,以此研究并建设面向全国各地震应急救援物资管理单位,统一化的服务于地震应急救援保障与决策的物资信息综合管理平台。该平台已在中国地震应急搜救中心上线,运行结果表明,有效提升了地震应急救援物资综合管理、使用和分析的水平,可解决目前存在的问题,对地震应急救援保障与决策具有重要意义。关键词地震应急;应急救援物资;管理平台     

Domestic and international arrivals of NOBOB (no ballast on board) vessels to lower Chesapeake Bay

In examining ship-mediated biological invasions, most research and treatment development has focused on ballast water. Another vector that has gained attention recently is vessels arriving in a "no ballast on board" (NOBOB) condition. Such ships retain relatively small, unpumpable volumes of water and sediment in their ballast tanks. Nonetheless, these unpumpable portions can represent great ecological risk. This scenario is relevant in the Great Lakes, which have experienced a dramatic series of introductions, despite most vessels arriving there as NOBOBs since 1994. We examined shipping patterns of NOBOBs arriving to lower Chesapeake Bay to begin evaluating their risk of biopollution. Only 14% of ships arrive as NOBOBs, and of those, 17% depart to another port in the upper bay. Most NOBOBs arrive from or leave for other US ports; proximate trans-Atlantic crossings are few. Given the nature of their operations, we conclude NOBOBs may represent a risk for aquatic nuisance species invasions to Chesapeake Bay.     

From compliance to environmental leadership

Management systems should have control, be it financially, in relation to the human resources of a company, or in matters concerning quality, safety and the environment. Integrated management systems are required for the quality, safety and environmental areas. The converse to this is that problems are often the result of inadequate management programmes, standards and/or compliance with standards. Recent surveys have concluded that, firstly, in order to improve environmental performance, management issues need to be addressed and developed; and secondly, that the implementation of policies and measures is vital to improve environmental performance. In addition to environmental awareness among management and the need for environmental management, this paper focuses on the role of European legislation, international standardization, other international guidelines and important aspects of environmental management and auditing. Finally, it introduces a new environmental management and audit system—the international environmental rating system (IERS), which has been developed by Det Norske Veritas. IERS is a tool to guide implementation, maintenance and improvement of environmental management in industry and to measure the quality and effectiveness of environmental management. It consists of a structured management and audit protocol with good management practices and associated user guidelines.     

EFFECT OF TSUNAMIS GENERATED IN THE MANILA TRENCH ON CHINA MAINLAND

Tsunami is one of the most devastating natural coastal disasters. Most of large tsunamis are generated by submarine earthquakes occurring in subduction zones. Tsunamis can also be triggered by volcano eruptions and large landslides. There are many records about "sea-overflow" in Chinese ancient books, which are not proved to be tsunamis. Tectonics and historical records analysis are import to forecast and prevention of tsunami. Consider the tectonic environment of the China sea, the possibility of huge damage caused by the offshore tsunami is very small. And the impact of the ocean tsunami on the Bohai sea, the Yellow sea, and the East China sea is also small. But in the South China Sea, the Manila subduction zone has been identified as a high hazardous tsunamigenic earthquake source region. No earthquake larger than M_W7.6 has been recorded in the past 100a in this region, suggesting a high probability for larger earthquakes in the future. If a tsunamigenic earthquake were to occur in this region in the near future, a tragedy with the magnitude similar to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami could repeat itself. In this paper, based on tectonics and historical records analysis, we have demonstrated that potential for a strong future earthquake along the Manila subduction zone is real. Using a numerical model, we have also shown that most countries in the South China Sea will be affected by the tsunamis generated by the future earthquake. For China, it implies that the maximum wave height over 4.0 meter on China mainland, especially the Pearl River Estuary. But the island, local relief maybe influence the maximum wave. But it takes nearly 3 hours to attack China mainland, if there is the operational tsunami warning system in place in this region, should be greatly reduced losses. And the simulated results are conformable to historical records. It indicates that the tsunami hazards from Manila trench to China mainland worthy of our attention and prevention.     

Contamination of diuron in coastal waters around Malaysian Peninsular

The use of antifouling paints to the boats and ships is one among the threats facing coastal resources including coral reefs in recent decades. This study reports the current contamination status of diuron and its behaviour in the coastal waters of Malaysia. The maximum concentration of diuron was 285 ng/L detected at Johor port. All samples from Redang and Bidong coral reef islands were contaminated with diuron. Temporal variation showed relatively high concentrations but no significant difference (P > 0.05) during November and January (North-East monsoon) in Klang ports (North, South and West), while higher levels of diuron were detected during April, 2012 (Inter monsoon) in Kemaman, and Johor port. Although no site has shown concentration above maximum permissible concentration (430 ng/L) as restricted by the Dutch Authorities, however, long term exposure studies for environmental relevance levels of diuron around coastal areas should be given a priority in the future.     

Biological controls on bacterial populations in ballast water during ocean transit

Bacteria (and viruses) numerically dominate ballast water communities, but what controls their population dynamics during transit is largely unexplored. Here, bacterial abundance, net and intrinsic growth rates, and grazing mortality were determined during a trans-Atlantic voyage. The effects of grazing pressure by microzooplankton on heterotrophic bacteria during transit were determined for source port, mid-ocean exchange (MOE), and six-day-old source port ballast water. When the grazer component was removed, bacterial abundances significantly increased. Additionally, we determined that the grazer-mediated mortality for ballast water originating from ports was greater than MOE water and that mortality decreased over time for the source port ballast water. This study shows that bacterial populations in transit are controlled by microzooplankton grazing. If these findings are representative of ballast water environments, they suggest that if the grazing component is selectively removed by various treatment methods, bacterial populations may increase; this could have environmental and human health consequences.     

Valorization of harbor dredged sediment activated with blast furnace slag in road layers

The valorization solutions for dredged sediment have been the subject of a great number of investigations over the previous decades.In the current present study,treatment of polluted dredged sediment fom the commercial port of Sfax,Tunisia,is proposed.An industrial byproduct(blast furnace slag)was used to bind raw sediment for a reuse in road engineering.Following standards of this field,the raw sediment first was identified and classified according to the French technical guidance.Then an environmental assessment was applied due to the presence of heavy metals.The concentrations were measured on the raw sediment particles so as to control the binding effect on heavy metals.Sediment mixtures consisted of a mix of sand and a blast furnace slag activated with quicklime.Different mixtures were tested and some were proposed for sub-layer applications.The Sfax commercial port raw sediment is considered as a sandy loam with a very low fraction of clay.The measured concentrations of heavy metals exceed the recommended thresholds for cadmium,copper,lead,and zinc.These can induce hazardous effects in the case of their dumping into the sea.On the other hand,the concentrations of the detected elements after leaching tests run on raw sediment samples are very low compared to the thresholds;such results highlight a possible recycling of the raw sediment in subgrade layers without any negative impact.Suitable formulations were deduced for road engineering tests relying on the ratio the California Bearing Ratio index and the immediate bearing index.If the obtained ratio exceeds one,the treated sediment can be recycled and used in road layers.     

The EU directive on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues: current availability of facilities in the North Sea

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the current availability of port reception facilities within the North Sea area. The evaluation is based primarily on original survey data from the summer of 2001, supplemented by existing information from surveys conducted by the International Maritime Organization. The EU Directive on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste etc. (Directive 2000/59/EC) requires that all ports provide facilities to meet the needs of those vessels normally calling in at them. In order for the Directive to be implemented effectively, the physical availability of such facilities is vital. This paper audits the wide range of port types within the region and also outlines the wide range of vessel types using these ports, and their requirements for a range of facilities. On the basis of this analysis, conclusions are drawn about the extent to which the provision requirement of the Directive is already being met.     

Distribution of butyltins in the waters and sediments along the coast of India

Water and surface sediment samples were analyzed for butyltins (TBT, DBT, MBT) from various ports along the east and west coast of India. The total butyltin (TB) in water samples varied between ∼1.7 and 342 ng Sn l⁻¹, whereas for sediments it varied between below detection limit to 14861 ng Sn g⁻¹ dry weight of sediment. On an average Chennai port recorded the highest level of butyltins in the sediments while Paradip recorded the highest level of butylins in the waters. A fairly good relationship between the TB in the sediment and overlying water samples, as well as between organic carbon and TB, implicates the importance of adsorption/desorption process in controlling the levels of TBT in these port areas. In India the data on organotin pollution is very sparse; most of the port areas have been surveyed for butyltins for the first time during this study.