1,720,983 research outputs found
Chinese Women Seafarers:Past, Present and Prospect
No full textThe global maritime industry plays an important role in international trade, the world economy, global stability and civil society as a whole. Both the IMO and the ILO have made great efforts to promote women’s employment in the maritime transportation sector. However, until now, less than 2 % of the global seafarers are women. In China, the government has advocated women’s rights, liberation and gender equality since the communists came into government in 1949. Chinese women have been encouraged to be employed in the traditionally male-dominant industries, such as mining, construction and seafaring. China feels proud of its strong track record of placing women on board commercial vessels as captains, chief engineers, radio officers and as navigating seafarers in various other positions. But, the glory has long become a history of the past. Now, in the twenty-first century, the number of navigating women seafarers in China has become extremely small. Training women as seafarers has drawn both praise and criticism from both scholars and practitioners in the industry. This paper takes the approach of a case study and analyses the key issues concerning the training and recruitment of women seafarers in China today. The rich empirical data presented, provides a clear picture of Chinese women seafarers today
Improving the current regime of ship safety inspections:opportunities for technology research and women employment
No full textThe new inspection regime that entered into force in 2011, allowed the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to change the target of inspecting 25 % of individual ships calling at each Member State, to a system based on the ship-risk profile. The latter combines a set of generic and historical factors (e.g., ship’s type and age, number of deficiencies and detentions, performance of ISM companies) that assists the work of port state control inspectors. Despite those improvements, prioritising ships for safety inspection is still a challenge, not only for authorities, but also to other stakeholders such as classification societies, ship owners, managers and operators. This paper introduces the recently EU-funded project SAFEPEC—Innovative risk-based tools for ship safety inspection. It aims at decreasing the current workload on surveyors through the development of a software prototype that enables the interoperability and coherent interpretation of the different inspection data sources that are available. Additionally, SAFEPEC will develop sensor systems for long-distance monitoring, tracking of failures and collection of near-real-time data from critical ship areas, such as the hull structure and shipboard equipment. As in the entire maritime community, the area of ship inspections is male dominated, although there is a slight shift seen. A small literature review and a survey among both males and females working in the maritime world, showed that both the physical aspects of the job and the difficulties to balance work and family, might still be reasons for females to avoid this work. The new technologies developed within the SAFEPEC project can help to increase job opportunities for women in the future
Board Characteristics and the Presence of Women on the Board of Directors: The Case of the Greek Shipping Sector
No full textShipping is a vital sector of the Greek economy. According to the Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (2013), more than 52 % of the shipping companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ) are owned by Greek nationals. Current demands for transparency in the decision making of the shipping firms, led boards to take various initiatives so as to comply with international regulations. This article attempts to discuss the findings of the Hellenic Observatory of Corporate Governance (HOCG) about the Board Characteristics (CEO duality, Board size, Independent Directors, cross directorships, tenure, age and gender) of the Greek-owned public shipping companies which are listed in foreign Stock Exchanges for the period 2001–2012. Special emphasis is given on the presence of Women on the Board of Directors. Possible reasons why women’s access to board seats has been limited are discussed, and some practical suggestions to the Shipping owners to consider adding qualified women to the board are presented
Learning from humpback whales for improving the energy capturing performance of tidal turbine blades
No full textThis paper summarizes a project on the potential of further improving the performance of horizontal axis tidal turbines via the application of leading-edge tubercles to the turbine blades inspired by humpback whales. Within this framework, a wide variety of experimental investigations, supported by numerical studies, have been conducted. The study first focused on the design and optimisation of the leading-edge tubercles for a specific tidal turbine blade section by using numerical methods to propose an “optimum” design for the blade section. This optimum design was then applied onto a representative tidal turbine blade. This representative 3D blade demonstrated significant benefits, especially after stall. The experimental measurements were further validated and complimented by numerical simulations using commercial CFD software for the detailed flow analysis. Following that, three tidal turbine models with varying leading-edge profiles were manufactured and a model test campaign was conducted in the cavitation tunnel to evaluate their efficiency, cavitation, underwater noise, and detailed flow characteristics. Based on these experimental investigations it was confirmed that the leading-edge tubercles can improve the hydrodynamic performance in the low Tip Speed Ratio (TSR) region without lowering the maximum power coefficient; constrain the cavitation development to within the troughs between the tubercles; and, hence, mitigate the underwater noise levels
A Bayesian belief network model for integrated energy efficiency of shipping
No full textClimate change is one of the major problems in today’s world and shipping has a direct influence on climate change by the amount of energy consumed and volume of emission generated during shipping and port operations. Energy efficiency and port operation relationship have been widely mentioned in the existing literature under the term of energy efficiency management. However, there is still a need for detailed research on the ship-port interface development regarding holistic energy efficiency. The complex logistic processes should comprise with port performance to avoid the inevitable delays and to obtain a more energy efficient transport system. Therefore, ports and fleet can be managed together within a conceptual communication framework. The primary purpose of this research is to enhance the scientific understanding of port and ship operation inter-operability based on energy efficiency interactions. A theoretical framework is developed to investigate how ports and ships could work together to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The integrated shipping system is analysed to create a unique Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) model aiming to support the operational optimisation of the ship and port interface. In this research, the BBN theory is applied to an oil tanker case study in order to examine the energy efficiency of the voyages between two ports. The study aims to provide a guide to the holistic energy efficiency of the oil/product tanker shipping operations
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Women seafarers and their identities
Full text linkThe research employs qualitative feminist methods, particularly in-depth interviews, in order to examine the identity management strategies of women seafarers. The analysis then focuses on patterns of identity management strategies: how women changed strategies chronologically as well as multi-dimensionally (e.g. across space as well as time). The project concludes with several suggestions for future research. The findings of this study emphasise the need to increase the employment of women seafarers in the industry in order to improve living conditions of life on board for both male and female seafarers
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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