EFFORTS News from the Work Packages

Public Responsibility Forces Ports to Reduce their Noise Impact on the Citizens

Jan Prahm — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:16:00 -0700

Noise is inevitable in port operations, but has become a constant source of confl ict with the residents close to the port. In order to contribute to good neighbourship, ports are actively trying to reduce noise disturbances. Novel ways of assessing the perception of noise disturbances emanating from ports have been identifi ed and are being presently tested. Hitherto, investigations of noise disturbance have mainly focussed on sound pressure. The researchers found out that sound frequency, the repetition rate and the repetition frequency play also an important role in the question, whether and how sound is perceived as disturbing. Still not satisfi ed with the fi ndings, sociologists were sent around to interview effected residents. They established that perceived disturbance varied not only in response to the parameters mentioned above, but also in response to individual subjective experience. Based on this realisation, researchers will now be able to devise noise protection measures for individual ports that will be more focussed and more cost effective.

On 08 October 2009 in Dublin / Ireland these results will be demonstrated to the public.

Ports have to manage their Environment in a Responsible Manner

Jan Prahm — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:44:00 -0700

Foreign invasive marine species that are carried in the ballast water of ocean vessels pose a great threat to our local marine environment. The addition of biocides together with the use of mechanical filters is up to now the only known effective measure to combat this threat. The question remains, what effect biocide-contaminated ballast water will have on indigenous marine species, once it is released from the vessel. Tests that will be explained and demonstrated have found biocides that have neglectable effects when applied correctly. Aluminium anodes are extensively used to protect submerged steel structures in ports from corrosion that mainly occurs through galvanic currents. Anodes are used to divert the negative effects of the galvanic current away from the steel structure. In the process, the metal of the anode goes into solution with the water, hence the name sacrificial anodes. The question was whether the dissolved aluminium in the water has a toxic effect on the marine environment. It was found that the ions turn into a metal state very quickly and that the aluminium deposited in the sediment does not pose a toxic threat. An explosive-proof system for the rapid oxidation of cancer-causing volatile organic compounds was developed. Volatile organic compounds are released into the atmosphere during the handling and transfer of hydrocarbon products, for instance fuel and bunker oils. In order to reduce air pollution in ports due to bunkering activities, the developed systems had to withstand the harsh working environment in ports.

From 22. - 23. September 2009 in Le Havre / France these results will be demonstrated to the public.
For the detailed agenda and registration for this event please click here.

PORTS BECOMING GOOD NEIGHBOURS TO RESIDENTIAL AREAS

Jan Prahm — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:14:00 -0700

Jens Froese presented the results of the sub-project 2 Ports and Environment at the Green Ports Conference in Naples 24. & 25. February 2009. The research project EFFORTS (effective operations in ports) is not re-stricted to environmental issues, however, it is understood that the port environment is a crucial production and image factor of a port. Therefore “port environment” is one of the three thematic columns of the project. Energy management, ships’ ballast water, diluted aluminium from ca-thodic protection of port steel constructions, port air quality tackling VOCs and noise annoyance are the key words to describe EFFORTS work related to the port environment. The paper provides a brief overview to explain the course of activities and expected results which will allow ports to strengthen their role as environmental protagonists and to improve trust in residents in the vicinity of ports taking their environmental responsibil-ity very seriously.

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WP 2.4. Noise Annoyance of Ports: Outdoor sound propagation

Jan Prahm — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:16:00 -0800

Most of the environmental factors have some effect on sound propagation outdoors. Many of these factors can be properly implemented to a sound propagation model. However, it is not easy to handle sound scattering due to the turbulence, and at the same time, the turbulence is the most important source of uncertainties. Concurrently with the studies of turbulence models we have developed a concept to get an estimate of the excess attenuation using a state-of-the-art physical model and to evaluate the uncertainties using a statistical model. This statistical model is based on two years continuous measurements using extensive acoustical and meteorological measurement facilities and producing over 100 factors hourly. Many meteorological factors had a strong and significant correlation with the excess attenuation, but between each other too. To avoid instable model due to the collinearity many factors were abandoned. In this paper the criterion and methods to select best explaining factors and to form this statistical model are considered.

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WP 2.3. Port Air Quality

Jan Prahm — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:59:00 -0800

By Jerome Taranto, BIOWIND, France

Currently sulfur and Volatil Organic Compounds (VOCs) are the main air pollutants from port areas. The sulfur compounds are responsible for acid rains and some of the VOCs are toxic or carcinogenic. The VOC emissions from petroleum roducts loading operations constitute around 1% (140.000 t/a) of all VOC emissions in EU. Solutions exist, but their effi ciency and/or cost can be improved. Therefore the treatment of the port air is necessary for the protection of the environment and health and to improve safety.

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WP 2.2 Water Quality

Jan Prahm — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:56:00 -0700

A multidisciplinary approach for the future port environment management and water quality survey

By Samuel Pineau, Corrodys, France

Port environment is probably the highest interface between human activity and marine environment, including the influence of industries, cities, indirect impact from onshore activities such as industry and agriculture, ships and port activities. Click here for full text.

WP 2.1 Clean Energy Management

Jan Prahm — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:04:00 -0700

By Jean Claude Dellinger, AREVA TA, France

In the light of developing countries' legitimate ambitions, industrialised countries will need to reduce their emissions by a factor of 3 to 5 by 2050 to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions linked to human activity to a level that the planet can recycle naturally by the middle of the century. This is a major challenge in and of itself. It has been made even more difficult for the period in question by a spontaneous trend towards growth in energy demand, even in industrialised countries, and by constant readiness to satisfy most of this demand through accessible fossil energy reserves without an immediate risk of running out.

The response to this challenge, which the economic actors have not yet entirely sized up, will call for changes in behaviour, in regulations and in energy prices, but above all for technological innovations which are essential to maintain, or further improve, standards of living and international competitiveness, the two of which are inextricably linked together.

Click here for full text (pdf)

Safe and Efficient Navigation in Ports is Vital for Port Efficiency

Jan Prahm — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:06:00 -0700

An electronic navigational chart with port-specific chart objects and the ability to display bathymetric information in a 3-dimensional presentation at a very high resolution has resulted in a Port-ECDIS that will be of outmost benefit to port navigation, port pilotage, port engineering, dredging and terminal planning and construction. A greatly enhanced tug manoeuvring simulator with newly developed algorithms displays tug movements in near lifelike presentations, regardless of the task the tug is presently performing, whether travelling, towing or pushing. For the first time the reciprocal interactions of the tug and the assisted vessel have been included in the simulation and give the tug master a realistic feeling of the forces involved in a particular towing task. A novel display of nautical information for the ship’s command, the pilot and the involved tugs will assure that all parties will share the same information, because efficient team work requires identical information for all. In the past, the accurate positions of the assisting tugs could not always be determined with the required accuracy. The results of research and life trials have now alleviated this bottleneck, allowing comprehensive information to be displayed in a Portable Pilot Unit (PPU).

From 14. - 15. September 2009 in Hamburg / Germany these results will be demonstrated to the public. For the detailed agenda and registration for this event please click here.

WP 1.2. Precise Navigation and Manoevering in Ports Shadow Effect for Tugs

Jan Prahm — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:44:00 -0700

One of the technical challenges of the Efforts project is to have a reliable position of tugs. The technology used to achieve this goal is Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). As the GNSS relies on a clear view to the sky, respectively the satellites. the conditions are very special when operating close to large ships which block parts of the sky. This causes the so called “shadow effect”. In order to find out how strong the shadow effect is under certain circumstances the two different sets of GPS systems of Marimatech were tested during a test sailing on the tug “Lesum” in Bremerhaven: E-Sea Fix Pilot CAT III and E-Sea Fix Pilot CAT I.

To read the test results in detail please read the full report on the trial:

Click for full text.

IMO MSC Approves Mandatory ECDIS

Jan Prahm — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 03:12:00 -0800

During the 85th session of IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), the proposal to make mandatory the carriage of ECDIS on SOLAS vessels from 2012 was approved. The proposal contained amendments to SOLAS regulation V/19 to make the carriage of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) under SOLAS chapter V Safety of Navigation mandatory as proposed by NAV 54.

WP 1.1 Tug Assistance

Jan Prahm — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:34:00 -0800

By Aage Damsgaard, FORCE Technology, Denmark

The aim of this work package is the advancement of the realism of tug simulators to the benefit of port pilots who are challenged by larger ships and new tug types. Tug operators are in need of accelerated training of masters and mates to meet crewing demand use the tug simulator. This work package demonstrates the power of the simulation tool in training, port planning and it will test an onboard display system.

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WP 1.3. Port ECDIS

Jan Prahm — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:15:00 -0700

By Jan Prahm, TuTech Innovation GmbH, Germany

The work package 1.3. Port ECDIS, is lead by Dieter Seefeldt from the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) in Hamburg. He is responsible for all kind of geographic and hydrographical surveys and information within the whole area of the Port of Hamburg and his section provides the user with up to date topographical and hydrographical information for the ease and safe of navigation and port maintenance.
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Service Oriented Architecture for Interoperable Port Systems

Jan Prahm — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:24:00 -0700

Abstract: Port Communities are characterized by being heterogeneous environments, with several actors and stakeholders and differing capabilities to handle information exchange and interoperability. To add complexity to this, changes in national and international legislations, for instance on security and customs, changes in customer requirements on tracking and tracing, and also changes in port organization put new requirements on the development and maintenance of interoperable ICT systems in Port Communities. Another challenge when developing complex ICT systems is the discontinuity found between different phases in the development process. We want to close the gap between the specification, implementation, validation and roll-out phases to ensure that a consistent system specification is reflected throughout the implementation of the system, and throughout its life cycle. This paper describes the EFFORTS methodology that supports a process model based approach to develop interoperable ICT systems in Port Communities. The methodology supports a development that clearly separates platform independent and platform specific parts, thus, it is suitable for specifying interoperable ICT systems. The EFFORTS Methodology is implemented in Enterprise Architect (EA) as a Template Model. This Template Model contains Standard Business Cases (the EFFORTS Toolbox), a Specification Model of an actual port ICT system (specified using UMM as Business Domain View, Business Requirements View and Business Transaction View by the developer of the actual system), and also documentation of the Design Model and Deployment Model (Platform Specific Parts). An advantage of the EFFORTS Methodology is that a large set of standard business cases and port processes (for example manifest distribution and berth allocation) is included in the EFFORTS Toolbox as actors, use cases, activities, classes, messages, and data elements. These elements can be used directly as-is when specifying the ICT system in a Specification Model, or they can be augmented and further changed to fit special requirements for the actual port community. The objective of obtaining enhanced interoperability within a Port Community clearly points to an efficient way of exchanging information. Today, all research and experience concludes that the way to do this is by implementing systems following the principles of service oriented architecture where the actors within a community send/receive and publish/subscribe to information by invoking services. These services are loosely coupled and data is transported in messages. This is the architectural foundation in the EFFORTS Methodology.

To read the full text click here.

WP 3.1 EFFORTS Process Modelling Platform – Process Library for Port Operation

Jan Prahm — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:08:00 -0800

By Phanthian Zuesongdham (ISSUS / TUHH)

One of the main tasks in Work Package 3.1 Port Processes is the priority to defi ne the signifi cant processes related to EFFORTS content as well as to cover all areas which are relevant to the ports.

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SP 3: Port Organisation

Jan Prahm — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:30:00 -0700

Increasing trade and changes in the economy as a whole pointed
to the significance of information for understanding the complexity
of the system and the need for the development of new processes.
Sub-project 3 aims to integrate a number of different
experts, creating a common platform of understanding. For this
target it is necessary first to understand the port processes and
the risk management framework. These two issues are analysed
separately in the two work packages comprising sub-project 3.
WP 3.1: Port Processes
WP 3.2: Risk Management Framework

Click here for full text

Effective Ports Demand Innovative Approaches to Education, Training and Human Development

Jan Prahm — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:21:00 -0700

European citizens enjoy great private mobility; now they have to prepare for a great professional mobility, too. The European port sector has gone through tremendous changes in the last decades. Former world trade main ports have become secondary or minor ports, former coastal landing stages or wetland areas have become major container hubs. Inside the ports the changes have been as profound. Stevedores and lightermen have become chemical operators, supply chain assembly workers or highly skilled equipment operators without leaving their former work domain. Port people have been mobile in the past, but rather by chance than by design. In order to safeguard the skills and experiences of port personnel and to develop them further for the wider industries upstream and downstream from the port, EFFORTS is creating a European Port Skill and Competencies Passport. This passport documents the comprehensive training patterns the holders have completed and proves to other port employers and employers in other industries, both national and European, the skill levels and the professional competencies of the holder. Seen on a national level, the ports and maritime industries in many countries contribute only a very small number of jobs to national employment. And inside these industries there are very important, specialised functions with a very small number of job holders. A post-graduate, post-experience academic course for these special functions in the ports that cannot be clustered in mainstream education is being developed. This course offers appropriate educational opportunities for experts engaged in Nautical Port Management and Technology. Because of the low numbers per site, the restricted time budget and the geographical dispersion of possible participants this course will be offered under the blended learning concept, with phases of personal attendance, e-learning and academic video conferences. In order to reduce the time and afford to design such a programme, several universities will contribute their already existing teaching offerings to the course. Through the European Credit Point System it is guaranteed that the course participants can study at their own pace and are awarded a degree by one of the participating academic partners.

From 07. - 08. October 2009 in Dublin / Ireland these results will be demonstrated to the public.

The Observatory

Jan Prahm — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:12:00 -0700

In its present guise, the Observatory (part of WP III) is essentially an educational and training software tool developed by the Port of Livorno. It is an organic database describing relevant training needs to all actors in the port in a timely and concise manner

Click here for full text (pdf)