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In recent years, vessels have become increasingly digitized, reflecting broader societal trends. As a result, maritime operations have become an attractive target for cyber threat actors. Despite the limited cybersecurity training seafarers receive, they are expected to operate within technologically advanced environments. The importance of cybersecurity awareness is evident, but the extent of seafarers' knowledge in this area remains uncertain. This article investigates three primary aspects: (1) the current state of cybersecurity onboard cargo vessels, (2) seafarers' cybersecurity awareness, and (3) potential improvements in seafarers' cybersecurity awareness. To accomplish this, a literature review is conducted to collect and analyze current research, supplemented by a questionnaire survey targeting Turkish seafarers. Our findings support increased investment in awareness and training programs, including organizational-wide cybersecurity awareness efforts, more frequent training, mandatory training for all seafarers through the Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW), and the appointment of a cybersecurity Officer (CySO) to ensure satisfactory cybersecurity levels onboard. Since this article focuses on high-level topics by assessing the general state of maritime cybersecurity and seafarers' cybersecurity awareness, it does not delve into detailed considerations of awareness and training programs. Nevertheless, it lays the foundation for future research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined the potential changing roles of ports in terms of diversifying their revenue through the expansion of new markets in the Port of Ngqura. This is by means of the production and sales of renewable hydrogen as marine fuel produced from a wavefarm in Nelson Mandela Bay. A key objective of the study was to conduct a comprehensive techno-economic analysis of the feasible hydrogen production technologies based on the analysis performed, including alkaline electrolysis of seawater and renewable-powered electrolysis of seawater. The produced hydrogen aligns with global decarbonisation of ships and ports and will be used to supply the port with electricity, serve to refuel tugboats, and provide green hydrogen bunkering fuel for commercial shipping vessels. The Port of Ngqura is geographically well positioned to lead the production of zero carbon shipping fuel. This work considers the CAPEX and OPEX of a hydrogen plant using electrolysers and evaluates the current cost of production and selling price of hydrogen. The primary aim of this study was to examine the feasibility of hydrogen production through electrolysis of seawater at the Port of Ngqura. Through assessing resource and technological options, determining advantageous economic assumptions, and identifying existing limitations and potential opportunities, a feasibility study was conducted with special consideration of the site characteristics of Ngqura. The output of this study is a model that simulates the production, storage, and transportation of hydrogen gas from the Port of Ngqura, which was further used to analyse different case study scenarios. This approach directly addresses the main goal of the study. The results found showed that with wave energy convertors in a row of three next to each other, the energy produced by the wave farm was 2.973 TJ per month, which is equivalent to 18.58 tons of produced hydrogen when considering the lower heating value of hydrogen and assuming that hydrogen production efficiency is 75%. The anticipated hydrogen fuel will be able to refuel a tugboat with green hydrogen from the energy produced by the wave farm each month. It is predicted that the price of hydrogen is expected to drop, and the price of fossil fuel will gradually increase in the coming years. The fact that coal electricity can be produced on demand and wind and solar energy are weather dependent as a result lacks the ability to achieve a constant supply. There is currently an urgent need for energy storage and the efforts to study the production of hydrogen and ammonia. Hydrogen is still predicted to be more expensive than coal electricity; however, from this, maybe a critical cost for a kg of CO2 could be calculated, which could make hydrogen competitive. The cost of green hydrogen production from wave energy in the Port of Ngqura was calculated as R96.07/kg (4.88 EUR/kg) of produced hydrogen, which is equivalent to 2.1 times the cost of the same energy supplied as Marine Diesel Oil (MDO) at current prices. Hydrogen from wave energy would thus become competitive with MDO; if a price is set for the emission of CO2, this may also offset the difference in cost between MDO and hydrogen from wave energy. The carbon price necessary to make green hydrogen competitive would be approximately R6257/tonne CO2, or 318 EUR/tonne CO2, which is around 4.5 times the current trading price of carbon in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen (H2) storage is one of the most problematic issues regarding the widespread use of hydrogen, and solid-state hydrogen storage materials are promising in this regard. Hydrogen storage by sodium borohydride (NaBH4) takes attention with its advantages and idiosyncratic properties. In this study, potentials and challenges of sodium borohydride are evaluated considering storage conditions, safety, hydrogen purity, storage capacity, efficiency, cost, and the maturity. Moreover, marine use of NaBH4 is demonstrated, and the pros and cons of the NaBH4 hydrogen storage method are stated. According to evaluations, whereas advantages can be sorted as fuel availability, fuel recyclability, mild storage conditions, exothermicity of reaction, pressure flexibility, and H2 purity, challenges can be sorted as high costs, catalyst deactivation, regeneration, and practical/technical implementation issues. The great potential of NaBH4 marine use (against road/aerial vehicles) is water availability, no need to carry all the required water for the entire journey, and reduced system weight/volume by this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes ECS maritime disputes through two lenses: as a globally comparable case study mediated through LOS and as a distinct regional case that differs in several respects from disputes outside East Asia. This study focuses on the Senkaku/Diaoyu island dispute but also examines broader EEZ and ADIZ disputes between China, Japan, and South Korea and the Ieodo dispute between China and South Korea. It finds that global dynamics are applicable to the ECS disputes, as countries depend on LOS rules even while attempting to interpret them for unilateral advantage whenever possible, and parties avoid formal arbitration, when possible, in favor of bilateral agreements. However, regional factors impact these dynamics. The sudden and sometimes violent transition from the Sino-Centric tributary system to the Westphalian system has undermined the legitimacy of LOS and western international law regionally. Finally, the presence of China as a party to almost all ECS disputes limits the application of LOS because China's position as a near-peer competitor with the US gives it additional options to unilaterally impose its will. Unlike relatively weaker parties to these disputes, China may be less concerned about flouting LOS that it does not see as necessary for protecting its maritime claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sail training is described as an educational endeavour where participants are required to adapt to an unfamiliar physical and social environment, acquire new skills (maritime and domestic), and confront personal challenges (e.g. going aloft, dealing with seasickness). It shares many of the philosophical underpinnings of adventure education, where personal and social growth is believed to be achieved through challenge and working as a team. Sail training has a focus on educational experiences through the sea rather than for the sea—thus practitioners need a combination of maritime and people management skills. This study looks at the motivation of crew to engage in sail training, the challenges they face, and what they believe would assist them to perform their role. This study contributes to the growing research on the professional development needs of 'incidental' outdoor educators and makes recommendations to address some of the challenges they face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sinking accidents can cause catastrophic losses in human, economic resources and environmental damage. Sinking accidents are one of the most common maritime accidents that occur in Indonesia. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the cause-and-effect probability of ship sinkings in Indonesian waters. Bayesian Network method and accident factor level are used to analyze the causal factors of ship sinking accidents. The results found that the Loss of Stability of the vessel is the most sensitive node. An additional take from the investigated sinking is that half of the accidents occurred on passenger vessels, and ships over 25 years old are prone to sinking due to corrosion and lack of proper maintenance. While 70.5% of accident caused by human error that is majorly triggered by unsafe acts. The real-case analysis also performed in this study reveals that eliminating Human Error and ship’s associated factors can reduce the probability of sinking by 17.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maritime industry is integral to global trade and heavily depends on precise forecasting to maintain efficiency, safety, and economic sustainability. Adopting deep learning for predictive analysis has markedly improved operational accuracy, cost efficiency, and decision-making. This technology facilitates advanced time series analysis, vital for optimizing maritime operations. This paper reviews deep learning applications in time series analysis within the maritime industry, focusing on three areas: ship operation-related, port operation-related, and shipping market-related topics. It provides a detailed overview of the existing literature on applications such as ship trajectory prediction, ship fuel consumption prediction, port throughput prediction, and shipping market prediction. The paper comprehensively examines the primary deep learning architectures used for time series forecasting in the maritime industry, categorizing them into four principal types. It systematically analyzes the advantages of deep learning architectures across different application scenarios and explores methodologies for selecting models based on specific requirements. Additionally, it analyzes data sources from the existing literature and suggests future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each year maritime accidents occur at sea causing human casualties. Training facilities serve to reduce the risk of human error by allowing maritime teams to train safety procedures in cooperative real-size immersive simulators. However, they are expensive and only few maritime professionals have access to such simulators. Virtual Reality (VR) can provide a digital all-immersive learning environment at a reduced cost allowing for increased access. However, a key ingredient of what makes all-immersive physical simulators effective is that they allow for multiple participants to engage in cooperative social interaction. Social interaction which allows trainees to develop skills and competencies in navigating situational awareness essential for safety training. Social interaction requires social fidelity. Moving from physical simulators into digital simulators based upon VR technology thus challenges us as HCI researchers to figure out how to design social fidelity into immersive training simulators. We explore social fidelity theoretically and technically by combining core conceptual work from CSCW research to the design experimentation of social fidelity for maritime safety training. We argue that designing for social fidelity in VR simulators requires designers to contextualize the VR experience in location, artifacts, and actors structured through dependencies in work allowing trainees to perform situational awareness, coordination, and communication which are all features of social fidelity. Further, we identify the risk of breaking the social fidelity immersion related to the intent and social state of the participants entering the simulation. Finally, we suggest that future designs of social fidelity should consider not only trainees in the design, but also the social relations created by the instructors’ guidance as part of the social fidelity immersion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maritime industry needs sustainable, low-emission fuels to reduce the environmental impact. Ammonia is one of the most promising alternative fuels because it can be produced from renewable energy, such as wind and solar. Furthermore, ammonia combustion does not emit carbon. This review article covers the advantages and disadvantages of using ammonia as a sustainable marine fuel. We start by discussing the regulations and environmental concerns of the shipping sector, which is responsible for around 2% to 3% of global energy-related CO2 emissions. These emissions may increase as the maritime industry grows at a compound annual growth rate of 4.33%. Next, we analyze the use of ammonia as a fuel in detail, which presents several challenges. These challenges include the high price of ammonia compared to other fossil fuels, the low reactivity and high toxicity of ammonia, NOx, and N2O emissions resulting from incomplete combustion, an inefficient process, and NH3 slipping. However, we emphasize how to overcome these challenges. We discuss techniques to reduce NOx and N2O emissions, co-combustion to improve reactivity, waste heat recovery strategies, the regulatory framework, and safety conditions. Finally, we address the market trends and challenges of using ammonia as a sustainable marine fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperation in maritime transport is a research area that has attracted the interest of academics and practitioners. Most models published in the literature on marine container terminal cooperation focus on the planning level and consider TEUs handled at each terminal as the decision variable. At the tactical/operational level, the vessel provides a more realistic selection as the decision variable for cooperation. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of the choice of both decision variables for terminal intra-port cooperation. To do so, we present two main mathematical models for marine container terminal intra-port cooperation: volume-based and vessel-based models. For each model, two different cooperation schemes and seven different concession fee policies among terminals are considered. Based on the individual terminals' before and after cooperation profits, the models are used to quantitatively assess and compare the proposed cooperation schemes and concession fee policies as well as to estimate indicators of terminals' willingness to cooperate under each model. Results from numerical experiments using simulated data for three terminals (with high, medium, and low utilization) indicate significant differences in profit sharing and willingness to cooperate under the proposed cooperation schemes and concession fee policies between the volume- and vessel-based models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. Department of Defense's National Defense Strategy prioritises the U.S. Navy's focus on strategic competitors, equipped with long-range weapons, significant anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) systems, and substantial cyber capabilities. This paper analyses the U.S. Navy's efforts to field an energy-resilient force able to support distributed operations in a globally contested logistics environment. Specifically, it examines operational energy strategies, focusing on energy supportability and demand reduction, against the backdrop of naval power and energy system developments. Moreover, it advocates for the application of updated performance metrics to spur technological innovation and policy formulation, advance a data-driven culture, and inform pathways to support a whole-of-government approach to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper calls for a maritime turn in critical heritage theory. Drawing on recent work on ocean and maritime ontologies, it takes up the idea of the 'ocean in excess' to argue for a maritime imagination that overcomes the separation of land from water, culture from nature. The paper begins by sketching out the terracentric norms that have come to underpin critical theory around cultural heritage. From there, recent insights on ocean ontologies are cited to show how they can open up new ways of thinking about existing strands of critical heritage work. The second half of the paper turns to the issue of ocean governance and the complex politics that arise from competing ontologies. This provides the foundation for a discussion of the transoceanic heritage discourses that are now emerging, as countries seek regional, come global influence in world affairs. Understanding these and other developments requires moving beyond the earthly, such that we more robustly engage with a multivalent heritage politics that operates across air, water and land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asia-Pacific region has emerged as the central playing field of the US and China strategic competition. The US views China as the competitor undermining the US regional influence in the Asia-Pacific region. This paper explores the US-China strategic competition, layers of instability in the Asia-Pacific, and specifically the constraints for the US in its Indo-Pacific Strategy and security implications for the region. The US National Security Strategy - 2022 strategises to counterbalance China by constructing regional deterrence infrastructure by strengthening its long-standing alliances and building new partnerships such as the QUAD and AUKUS, and is also cementing ties with the ASEAN. In order to avert crisis escalation in the Asia-Pacific region, the US and China bilaterally and the regional states, as crucial stakeholders, would require to carefully manage their roles and strategies in the ongoing competition for world order determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With each passing day, maritime organisations are equipped with more technology, and these systems form a structure that creates international networks. Digitalisation will have implications and effects on value creation, business models, horizontal and vertical integration, services and work organisation. While digital technologies in the maritime sector reduce risks owing to transparency, adaptability, traceability, flexibility and scalability, can also give discernible improvements in terms of operational processes, cost reductions, etc.. In the developing maritime sector, there are a variety of digital technology-related challenges that remain to be overcome, but there is no structured overview of the main types of challenges/barriers encountered by specialists. In this study, we explore the challenges/barriers to digitalisation in the maritime sector and how these are perceived by employees in this sector. The aim of our research is to identify these challenges/barriers and understand the relationships between them. To categorise the challenges/barriers, the DEMATEL approach was used. As a result of the analysis, it is seen that the main hindrances to digitalisation in the maritime sector are the problems of complexity, integration and interoperability. In contrast, the difficulties of performance appraisal and scalability emerge as the least important issues affecting the implementation of digital technologies in this area. Our results indicate that economic problems exert a significant causal influence on the other challenges/barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Coronavirus boarded the Carnival cruise ship Ruby Princess in 2020, Australia’s leaders and the maritime industry responded with technical fixes to the most complex adaptive challenge ever to face Australian Federal and State authorities. As they struggled to make sense of the evolving pandemic, a similar situation had unfolded in the Northern Hemisphere port of Yokohama Japan, where Japanese authorities had already responded to another infected Carnival cruise ship, the Diamond Princess. All eyes should have been on the response to the Diamond Princess, and especially on the lessons learnt. In navigating complex chaotic environments, leaders need to make sense, probe and find a course of action suitable to meet the needs of a concerned community. This paper explores the evolving maritime pandemic and how Australia’s leaders attempted to navigate the challenge and the opportunity lost in experimenting to make progress against the adaptive leadership challenge, and why meta-leadership could have been exercised in response to these types of crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, there is a greater demand to produce more timely official statistics at a more granular level. National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) are more and more looking to novel data sources to meet this demand. This paper focuses on the use of one such source to compile more timely and detailed official statistics on port visits. The data source used is sourced from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) used by ships to transmit their position at sea. The primary purpose of AIS is maritime safety. While some experimental statistics have been compiled using this data, this paper evaluates the potential of AIS as a data source to compile official statistics with respect to port visits. The paper presents a novel method called "Stationary Marine Broadcast Method" (SMBM) to estimate the number of port visits using AIS data. The paper also describes how the H3 Index, a spatial index originally developed by Uber, is added to each transmission in the data source. While the paper concludes that the AIS based estimates won't immediately replace the official statistics, it does recommend a pathway to using AIS-based estimates as the basis for official port statistics in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent adoption of the FuelEU Maritime regulation, aiming to decarbonize maritime shipping, is part of the EU clean energy transition to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Based on autoethnographic method and qualitative text analysis, applying the multiple streams framework as a theoretical lens, this article explores and explains the politics and the policy process of FuelEU Maritime. A policy window opened with adoption of the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015, the slow progress on climate policies in the International Maritime Organization, and the subsequent adoption of the European Green Deal in 2019 and the new EU climate law in 2021. Diverging beliefs and narratives of policy entrepreneurs, policy makers, and stakeholders on problems to be addressed and different policy options to be implemented are analyzed. There were mainly two policy entrepreneurs, advocating different problem descriptions and policy options. The European Commission proposed a technology‐neutral, goal‐based approach to reach moderate emission reductions by 2050, while a coalition led by green mobility NGO Transport & Environment advocated a technology‐specific multiplier and subquota for zero‐carbon fuels to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The article explains the agency of Transport & Environment and allies in influencing the European Parliament and several member states in the Council of the EU to stand the grounds against incumbent shipping and fossil fuel industry that influenced the Commission to present a down‐watered policy proposal. Finally, the article exemplifies the complexity of the second‐generation energy transition required for decarbonization compared to the first‐generation transformation focusing on renewable electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the complexity of the maritime environment and the diversity of the volume and shape of monitored objects in the maritime, existing object detection algorithms based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) are challenging to balance the requirements of high accuracy and high real-time simultaneously in the field of maritime object detection. In response to the characteristics of complex backgrounds, significant differences in object size between categories, and the characteristic of having a large number of small objects in maritime surveillance videos and images, the Maritime dataset with rich scenes and object categories was self-made, and the OS-YOLOv7 algorithm was proposed based on the YOLOv7 algorithm. Firstly, a feature enhancement module named the TC-ELAN module based on the self-attention mechanism was designed, which enables the feature map used for detection to obtain enhanced semantic information fused from multiple scale features. Secondly, in order to enhance the attention to the area of dense small objects and further improve the positioning accuracy of occluded small objects, this study redesigned the SPPCSPC structure. Then, the network structure was improved to alleviate the problem of decreased object detection accuracy caused by the loss of semantic feature information. Finally, experimental results on self-made datasets and mainstream maritime object detection datasets show that OS-YOLOv7 has a better object detection effect compared to other state-of-the-art (SOTA) object detection algorithms at the cost of reasonable inference time and parameter quantity and can achieve good object detection accuracy on mainstream datasets with high real-time performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in trading volume and competitiveness in global trade, ports have become indispensable and critical rivalry zones for countries. As competitiveness among the firm increase at a global level, ports become a rivalry zone cause of being the most critical economic structures and increasing competitiveness for transnational business and trade activities. The Black Sea Basin is one of the most important waterways in the world in terms of commercial, political and strategic aspects. The devastating consequences of conflicts and tensions, especially in recent years, prove the importance of the Black Sea Basin for world maritime trade. Therefore, the ports of the Black Sea Basin are of great importance. When the existing literature is reviewed, it is seen that there are many studies on the competitiveness and efficiency issues. Since the studies in the literature are mostly conceptual, it is obvious that they do not reveal analytical results, which constitutes a deficiency in the literature. In addition, the lack of a scientific study on the efficiency of container ports in the Black Sea Basin in recent years has made this study necessary. The aim of this study is to examine the efficiency and competitiveness of container ports in the Black Sea Basin, which has a great importance both regionally and globally. The "Data Envelopment Analysis" (DEA) of the input-oriented CCR model, which is a linear program, was used to measure the productivity of the ports, and the relative efficiency of the ports was calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the state of the art and methodology of the doctoral research project "Framework for modeling and simulation of maritime cyberdefense - MARCIM". The state of the art defined the background of the research problem, the state of scientific activity, trends and challenges related to MARCIM: cyberdefense, modeling and simulation in cyber security and cyberdefense; and maritime cybersecurity and cyberdefense. The methodology was established with a focus on modeling complex systems, by phases and application actors. The article mainly concludes that maritime cyberdefense at a strategic level behaves like a complex system, with dynamics, processes and elements that cannot be clearly identified, which require modeling and simulation, with a metaheuristic approach, to study the set of actions and interactions between its entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communities of the East African coast have had a long history of international interaction. Swahili maritime networks linked African port towns across the Indian Ocean seaboard, thus enabling merchandise to reach the hinterlands of the continent. One of these Swahili towns is the ancient city of Gedi, located on the central Kenyan coast near the medieval town of Malindi. Located inshore, 6 km from the main ocean to the southeast and 3 km from Mida Creek to the southwest, Gedi's lack of seaward connectivity has perplexed scholars. To effectively function within the vibrant Indian Ocean maritime trade networks of the 10th to 16th centuries CE, Gedi needed access to the sea. Inevitably goods had to be transported overland from a port or landing place. The 'MUCH to Discover in Mida Creek' project carried out an archaeological survey around the Creek to form a broader understanding of the region's maritime past. The study identified a range of sites that evidence past coastal activity. In particular, a concentration of contemporary house sites at Chafisi near the closest point on the Creek to Gedi would suggest it may have acted as an outport for the stone town. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2013, China has undertaken extensive reclamation and construction on several reefs in the Spratly Island chain in the South China Sea. China has since been adding new construction and fortifications to the land features that had undergone reclamation between late 2013 and 2015, but none of the new projects rivalled the large-scale reclamation from 2014–15, and nor has China reclaimed any new land features. Land reclamation has theoretical and empirical implications. The literature regarding maritime disputes in the South China Sea is rich and plenty. Many studies, however, focus on China's bilateral assertive or coercive behaviour as well as China's general strategy in the South China Sea, not land reclamation per se. What explains the timing of China's large-scale land reclamation in the South China Sea? Why did China decide to initiate large-scale land reclamation in the first place? This paper, therefore, conducts a comprehensive case study analysing China's land reclamation decisions. I argue that China's land reclamation is a result of capability, rationale, and opportunities which include a calculation of U.S. resolve. This study has implications for understanding Chinese foreign policy decision-making and contributes to the credibility debate in the coercion literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has consistently demarcated the Bay of Bengal as a security space in standard realist terms which in turn leads to its conversion as a zone of security. The article probes two questions in this context. First, what drives India's insecurity and its imperative to control the Bay of Bengal? Apart from the traditional defence imperative, India pursues an aspirational model of security that is linked to its regional prominence and growing maritime footprint. Second, what are India's security responses in the Bay of Bengal? While realist security theories are often helpful in explaining India's security behaviour, there are several episodes when India's responses are also suboptimal on a realist scale where it does not completely resort to either defensive or offensive realism to attain security. Beyond defending threats and accumulating power, India's security engagements are additionally motivated by the concerns of autonomy, leadership and pre-eminence in this maritime space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of EMI in boarding maritime education can help cadets prepare for an increasingly connected global maritime work environment. The application of EMI can help improve cadets' English skills and expand their learning opportunities in accessing the international curriculum. In an increasingly complex global maritime environment requiring good English skills, the use of EMI can help cadets to be ready for future challenges. However, challenges such as increased costs and skilled human resources in teaching in English and providing language support for cadets also need to be addressed in the implementation of EMI in boarder maritime education [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maritime industry has long been dominated by men, leading to challenges faced by female students seeking to belong within maritime educational institutions. This study aims to explore the negotiating practices of female students in a maritime university. The study draws upon descriptive qualitative research and was supported by a naturalistic inquiry. The informants were eight (8) female students selected using the purposeful sampling technique with inclusion criteria. The data was collected using a semi-structured written interview that was conducted through Facebook Messenger and processed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. The negotiating practices of female students in a maritime university developed three (3) significant themes: affirming self-efficacy, compromising actions, and establishing connections. Female students adopt a variety of negotiating practices in a male-dominated environment that encourages full participation and fosters a sense of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current industrial environment relies heavily on maritime transportation. Despite the continuous technological advances for the development of innovative safety software and hardware systems, there is a consistent gap in the scientific literature regarding the objective evaluation of the performance of maritime operators. The human factor is profoundly affected by changes in human performance or psychological state. The difficulty lies in the fact that the technology, tools, and protocols for investigating human performance are not fully mature or suitable for experimental investigation. The present research aims to integrate these two concepts by (i) objectively characterizing the psychological state of mariners, i.e., mental workload, stress, and attention, through their electroencephalographic (EEG) signal analysis, and (ii) validating an innovative safety framework countermeasure, defined as Human Risk-Informed Design (HURID), through the aforementioned neurophysiological approach. The proposed study involved 26 mariners within a high-fidelity bridge simulator while encountering collision risk in congested waters with and without the HURID. Subjective, behavioral, and neurophysiological data, i.e., EEG, were collected throughout the experimental activities. The results showed that the participants experienced a statistically significant higher mental workload and stress while performing the maritime activities without the HURID, while their attention level was statistically lower compared to the condition in which they performed the experiments with the HURID (all p < 0.05). Therefore, the presented study confirmed the effectiveness of the HURID during maritime operations in critical scenarios and led the way to extend the neurophysiological evaluation of the HFs of maritime operators during the performance of critical and/or standard shipboard tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency and operational safety practices on ships have gained more importance due to the rules set by the International Maritime Organization in recent years. While approximately 70% of the fuel consumed on a commercial ship is utilized for the propulsion load, a significant portion of the remaining fuel is consumed by the auxiliary generators responsible for the ship's onboard load. It is crucial to comprehend the impact of the electrical load on the ship's generators, as it significantly assists maritime operators in strategic energy planning to minimize the chance of unexpected electrical breakdowns during operation. However, an appropriate handling mechanism is required when there are massive datasets and varied input data involved. Thus, this study implements data-driven approaches to estimate the load of a chemical tanker ship's generator using a 1000-day real dataset. Two case studies were performed, namely, single load prediction for each generator and total load prediction for all generators. The prediction results show that for the single generator load prediction of DG1, DG2, and DG3, the decision tree model encountered the least errors for MAE (0.2364, 0.1306, and 0.1532), RMSE (0.2455, 0.2069, and 0.2182), and MAPE (17.493, 5.1139, and 7.7481). In contrast, the deep neural network outperforms all other prediction models in the case of total generation prediction, with values of 1.0866, 2.6049, and 14.728 for MAE, RMSE, and MAPE, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Philippines is one of the single biggest nationality blocs in the maritime and shipping industries; thus, the country's efforts to improve the Maritime Program in secondary and tertiary education are highly significant. This study aimed to determine the level of competence of Maritime Senior High School students and gather accounts of implementing the maritime program in the basic education system in Negros Occidental. It adopted the mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. The paper used mean, standard deviation, and Mann-Whitney for comparing differences between two independent groups for the statistical treatment analysis of the quantitative data. Coding and identifying common themes, patterns, and responses were used in the thematic analysis of the descriptive information provided by the interviewees. The findings revealed that the competence of the SHS students in the pre-baccalaureate maritime program was at the skill level in terms of introduction to maritime careers and introduction to marine transportation and engineering, and at the leadership level in terms of introduction to maritime safety, irrespective of the school enrolled and preferred program. The development of the quality system and support, execution of the curriculum, administration of assessments, and sustained and continuous pursuit of excellence that comprise the ideal practices of the school explained the current findings. Laying the foundation (PSG), Embedding the PSG into the school norms and practices, acting on or carrying out the program, and Determining Outcomes are the four steps that make up the new paradigm for conducting pre-baccalaureate maritime programs known as LEAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Philippines is one of the single largest nationality groups in the maritime and shipping sectors; as a result, the nation's efforts to modernize the skills of the engine cadets are significant. This study aimed to assess the engine cadets' skill level in relation to the requisite 21st-century skills while they were receiving shipboard training at TORM Shipping Philippines Inc. It used a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. The paper used mean, standard deviation, and Mann-Whitney for comparing differences between two independent groups for the statistical treatment analyses of the quantitative data. Thematic analysis of the descriptive data provided by the interviewees involved coding and identifying common themes, patterns, and responses. The findings revealed that the engine cadets were competent in three (3) areas but needed to be more competent in the remaining area (inventive thinking). This signified that the engine cadets need supplemental training in the areas where they are less apt to improve their skills in all variables, especially 21st-century skills. The management of maritime schools and policymakers must address the common factors that prevent engine cadets from acquiring 21st-century skills, according to the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime trade with India and China by means of Basrah and Suez, which had great importance during the Sassanid-Byzantine struggle, increased its importance with the birth of Islam. These trade routes used to surround the Arabian Peninsula in two routes one through Basrah and the other through Clysma (al-Kulzum) before coming together in Hormuz. Merchants then would follow this route to do their trade from centers starting in Hormuz and going to India, Sind (Indo-China), and China, bringing various kinds of precious stones, silk fabrics, patterned vases, porcelain, spices, and exotic fruits that were then sold in Islamic countries. Sources from the period noted these routes' interconnections to be important points in the maritime transport that took place between the East and West. A great wealth of records are found on the subject in many sources of the period, especially in medieval geographical works, and Muslim merchants are understood from these records to have gone to China to buy goods and sell them in their own countries. This maritime trade actually experienced its most active period during the Abbasid dynasty (750-1258 CE), and allowed the Islamic world to encounter, influence, and be influenced by Indian and Chinese civilizations. This article the important routes of this maritime trade that had been actively used starting from Suez and Basra in the west and ending in the Canton region of China along the Indian coast in the east light of the data provided by authors from the Middle Ages. The records in the sources of the period have also been referenced here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mast-step coins have been discovered in Roman shipwrecks dating from the 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE, and their placement at the foot of the ship's mainmast was a deliberate act with significant maritime and religious meaning. This article argues that, in antiquity, mast-step coins were votive offerings to a deity associated with the mast and sails of ancient sailing vessels, and it is proposed that this deity was Isis Pelagia, the inventor of navigation and mistress of the sea. Through a discussion of Isis Pelagia's iconography and other aspects of Isis' cult, including her sailing festivals and aretalogy, it is posited that the mast came to symbolize the goddess whose natural place was on the decks of Roman ships, holding their billowing sails and guiding them safely to shore. Allegorically, these coins may thus have been placed at the feet of Isis Pelagia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the connection between projects for shipboard ventilation and the shifting medical discourse about acclimatization in the British Empire during the eighteenth century. I argue that the design, use, and disuse of a class of shipboard "ventilators" proposed by natural philosopher Stephen Hales helps us to trace changing ideas about the ability of European bodies to acclimate, or "season," to tropical environments. These ventilating machines appealed to British administrators because they represented an embodiment of providential and enlightened ideas that validated the expansion of overseas empire. In addition, they promised to increase labor efficiency by reducing the mortality and misery experienced by the sailors and enslaved people during long sea voyages. As skepticism about acclimatization grew in response to stubbornly high mortality rates in the West Indies, Hales' ventilators fell out of favor – a development underscored by their dismissal as a potential solution for the appalling conditions found in the transatlantic slave trade. By examining ventilators' nearly fifty-year career in naval and slave ships, this article will show the role of technology and the shipboard environment in the transition from enlightened optimism about acclimatization toward later attitudes of racial and environmental essentialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Hong Kong–China maritime border since 1949, when the establishment of the People's Republic of China and the onset of the Cold War turned the 1898 imperial boundary into an ideological line, one that nonetheless remained porous to ties of trade and kinship. It focuses on the oyster-producing communities in the tidelands of the Pearl River estuary, showing how oystermen—some of them also refugees—faced security threats exacerbated by the Cultural Revolution while they also leveraged the borderland's opportunities. The oyster industries are a case study in two forms of agricultural production: traditional land and labor relations on the Hong Kong coast, and collective agriculture in China's socialist period, followed by decollectivization in the reform era. By the end of the Mao years in 1976, China's oyster industry well exceeded that of Hong Kong's, but both systems were vulnerable to industrial pollution. In the reform era and after, China's oystermen built upon persistent networks to navigate their position between Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and the Pearl River Delta. The prosperity of the China oysterman, rather than the Hong Kong refugee, illustrates the inversion of the border's valence from a colonial past to a postsocialist future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite navigation over recent decades has become the default and, in some cases, sole source of positioning for maritime vessels. The classic sextant has been all but forgotten by a significant number of ship navigators. However, recent risks to RF-derived positioning by jamming and spoofing have resurfaced the need to train sailors again in the art. Innovations in space optical navigation have long been perfecting the art of using celestial bodies and horizons to determine a space vessel's attitude and position. This paper explores their application to the much older ship navigation problem. Models are introduced that utilize the stars and horizon to derive latitude and longitude. When assuming good star visibility conditions on the ocean, the accuracy delivered is at the 100 m level. This can meet requirements for ship navigation in coastal and oceanic voyages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The French Tele-Medical Assistance Service (TMAS) provides medical teleconsultation for any ship at sea. At the end of the consultation, the doctor decides whether the problem can be taken care of onboard or not. In this study, we determined the factors associated with the decision for disembarkation or evacuation in case of wounds. Methods: We conducted a retrospective epidemiological study between 2011 and 2019 from consultations with the French TMAS. The inclusion criterion was the presence of an acute wound. Results: One thousand six patients (n = 1,006) were analyzed and 586 (58%) patients were disembarked or evacuated. Factors associated with disembarkation or evacuation are wound characteristics (severity and location), the onboard staff's medical training, the availability of photography, and the ship's location. Wound severity is a risk factor for disembarkation or evacuation. The availability of photography, staff with advanced training, and being at >1 day of navigation from a harbor are protective factors against being disembarked or evacuated. Conclusion: The added value of photography and an update of medium medical training could increase the number of wounds taken care of onboard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early find of the 64 Viking Age round shields from the Gokstad ship burial has almost singularly shaped our understanding of the construction and role of shields from this period. Despite their significance, however, the shield material has never been published in full nor been subjected to any substantial examination since their discovery in 1880. The current understanding of the shields is thus highly limited, tainted also in part by the preconception that they potentially represent ceremonial shields for the burial rite as well as assumptions of homogeneity. This preliminary study critically assesses these preconceptions and presents the results from a re-examination of the shield boards from the Gokstad ship burial. Despite their fragmented state, these artefacts significantly contribute to a more nuanced understanding of shield constructions of the Viking Age, especially when coupled with other well-preserved archaeological shield finds and the scholarly corpus available on such shields. As such, the preliminary findings of this paper offer new insights into the complexities of Viking Age shield technologies and their use in funerary rites, underlining the need for more comprehensive treatment of this material in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ship designers hardly ever receive feedback from the actual operation of their designs apart from sea acceptance trials. Similarly, crews operating the vessels do not receive a clear picture of the energy performance and environmental footprint of different options. This paper proposes a methodology based on operational data from continuous monitoring, and applies it to an ocean patrol vessel of the Royal Netherlands Navy in order to identify the impact of diverse operational conditions on energy performance over the whole operating range, but also to examine the decision to equip the vessel with hybrid propulsion. Specifically, it introduces mean energy effectiveness indicator and mean total energy efficiency over discretised vessel speed, as the main tool in quantifying the energy gains and losses to assist in making better-advised design and operational decisions. Moreover, it demonstrates a dataset enrichment procedure, using manufacturers' information, in case not all needed sensors are available. Results suggest that electrical propulsion was 15–25% less efficient than the best mechanical propulsion mode, and on the overall energy performance of the vessel, increasing speed by 1 knot caused a 7% and 14% increase over the minimum CO 2 /mile emissions between 8 and 14, and above 14 knots respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the architectural design and implementation of a multi-RAT gateway (MRGW) supporting dual satellite and terrestrial connectivity that enables moving maritime vessels, such as autonomous surface ships, to be connected to multiple radio access networks in the maritime communication environment. We developed an MRGW combining LTE and very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) access networks to realize access traffic steering, switching, and splitting functionalities between them. In addition, we developed communication interfaces between the MRGW and end-devices connecting to their corresponding radio access networks, as well as between the MRGW and the digital bridge system of an autonomous surface ship, enabling the MRGW to collect wireless channel information from each RAT end-device and provide the collected data to the digital bridge system to determine the optimal navigation route for the autonomous surface ship. Experiments on the MRGW with LTE and VSAT end-devices are conducted at sea near Ulsan city and the Kumsan satellite service center in Korea. Through validation experiments on a real maritime communication testbed, we demonstrate the feasibility of future maritime communication technologies capable of providing the minimum performance necessary for autonomous surface ships or digitized aids to navigation (A to N) systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how onboard sociocultural practices were shaped by different conceptions of human and external environment on seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century French ships embarking for the Indian Ocean basin or across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. In these environments, in which large numbers of people were confined together, physical conditions shaped the sensory and social dynamics of ocean voyages, while they made ships ambiguous sites for the implementation of spiritual practices. Concepts of society responded to a largely unrecognizable marine environment; shipboard conditions of physical confinement were thought conducive to moral disorder, while ships were conceived of as a source of potentially subversive human energies that had to be channeled. These tensions reached a paroxysm on the slave ships increasingly crossing the Atlantic in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The conditions within early modern ships, this article contends, were exacerbated by multiple external factors, making the ship a uniquely unsustainable environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voyage data recorder (VDR) is a data recording system that aims to provide all navigational, positional, communicational, sensor, control and command information for data-driven investigation of accidents onboard ships. Due to the increasing dependence on interconnected networks, cybersecurity threats are one of the most severe issues and critical problems when it comes to safeguarding sensitive information and assets. Cybersecurity issues are extremely important for the VDR, considering that modern VDRs may have internet connections for data transfer, network links to the ship's critical systems and the capacity to record potentially sensitive data. Thus, this research adopted failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) to perform a cybersecurity risk assessment of a VDR in order to identify cyber vulnerabilities and specific cyberattacks that might be launched against the VDR. The findings of the study indicate certain cyberattacks (false information, command injection, viruses) as well as specific VDR components (data acquisition unit (DAU), remote access, playback software) that required special attention. Accordingly, preventative and control measures to improve VDR cybersecurity have been discussed in detail. This research makes a contribution significantly to the improvement of ship safety management systems, particularly in terms of cybersecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime chironomid midges (Diptera) are diverse, yet these ‘pearls of the ocean’ are little known. Emphasizing Pacific Ocean taxa, we used six genetic markers (18S, 28S, CAD1, CAD4, FolCOI and COI) and fossil calibrations to produce Bayesian timecalibrated phylogenies to date eight independent marine transitions in three subfamilies. Deep nodes involve subfamily Telmatogetoninae (originating mid-Cretaceous, 101–128, 114 Ma), with sister genera Telmatogeton Schiner and Thalassomya Schiner splitting later in the Cretaceous (56–82, 69 Ma). Two transitions in Orthocladiinae involve Clunio Haliday and Pseudosmittia Edwards, dating from the upper Cretaceous, both with Eocene crown groups. In subfamily Chironominae, transitions to marine occur in two tribes. Four transitions occur within the otherwise nonmarine crown groups Kiefferulus Goetghebuer, Dicrotendipes Kieffer, Polypedilum Kieffer and Ainuyusurika Sasa & Shirasaka. Two separate robust clades in tribe Tanytarsini involve: (1) a minor radiation within Paratanytarsus dated to the mid-Eocene around 43 Ma; and (2) an unexpected but fully supported diversification in Pontomyia Edwards plus Yaetanytarsus Sasa dated to around 47 Ma, with separation of Pontomyia from Yaetanytarsus around 40 Ma. Crown Pontomyia, represented by three species, was estimated to have diverged around 19 Ma, whereas the crown radiation of Yaetanytarsus, with 12 sampled species, dates to the mid-Eocene. In a comprehensive global review we concisely document new synonymies and new combinations revealed by the study. The evolutionary timing estimate provides insights into the frequency of marine transitions and diversifications in the Chironomidae in association with dynamic oceanic changes during the Oligocene and Miocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inheritance of traditional knowledge to the younger generation both in the process of socialization, internalization is very effective in children and adolescents. This research is related to what traditional knowledge is passed down by parents or society in general to children or adolescents in Tanjung Luar Village; Besides that, how is the process of introducing traditional knowledge by parents and the community to maritime children in Tanjung Luar Village. The research method used is a qualitative method with an ethnographic approach that emphasizes data sources on observations, interviews, documentation, and literature reviews. The data analysis techniques used are domain analysis, taxonomy analysis, component analysis, and cultural theme analysis. The results of the study showed that the introduction of knowledge to fishermen's children in Tanjung Luar Village, East Lombok Regency was carried out both directly and indirectly. In the introduction of the marine environment, for example, most of the fishermen's children understand the marine environment from their interactions with the marine environment, and in matters that are poorly understood they will ask questions or accidentally find out from their interactions with parents and the community; Likewise, knowledge about making technology such as how to repair nets, how to make fishing rods, how to make boats from fiber and so on is learned directly by asking questions and accidentally due to environmental factors; whereas in the introduction of more ecological knowledge inherited by means of socialization by parents and society. Departing from the results of this study it was found that the pattern of inheritance of knowledge to maritime children in Tanjung Luar Village occurred both through the process of socialization, internalization, and socialization by parents, the community and children's awareness of their environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying and assessing the likelihood and consequences of maritime accidents has been a key focus of research within the maritime industry. However, conventional methods utilised for maritime risk assessment have been dominated by a few methodologies each of which have recognised weaknesses. Given the growing attention that supervised machine learning and big data applications for safety assessments have been receiving in other disciplines, a comprehensive review of the academic literature on this topic in the maritime domain has been conducted. The review encapsulates the prediction of accident occurrence, accident severity, ship detentions and ship collision risk. In particular, the purpose, methods, datasets and features of such studies are compared to better understand how such an approach can be applied in practice and its relative merits. Several key challenges within these themes are also identified, such as the availability and representativeness of the datasets and methodological challenges associated with transparency, model development and results evaluation. Whilst focused within the maritime domain, many of these findings are equally relevant to other transportation topics. This work, therefore, highlights both novel applications for applying these techniques to maritime safety and key challenges that warrant further research in order to strengthen this methodological approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human-centred design (HCD) and usability evaluations can help reduce human errors and improve maritime safety. To the authors' knowledge, there has not been a comprehensive review compiling system design and evaluation studies in the maritime domain. To fill this gap, this study adopted the PRISMA methodology to systematically review 130 studies in English published from 2010 to May 2024. The aim of this study is to summarize the design and evaluation studies conducted within maritime systems. The findings revealed that 82% of the studies investigated the systems related to the vessel, covering three categories: (1) ship bridge and navigation, (2) other systems onboard ships, and (3) ship design and building. Meanwhile, 18% explored shore-based systems in Shore Control Center (SCC), including vessel traffic service (VTS) and SCC for autonomous ships. Expanding on these findings, this review proposed an HCD framework consolidated from the reviewed studies and four scenario (task) categories for experiment design, including (1) typical, (2) sequential, (3) experimental, and (4) hierarchical. Taken together, the reviewed studies, the HCD framework, the four scenario categories, and the proposed guidelines may serve as a reference for future design and evaluation of maritime systems. • Summarized the Human-Centred Design (HCD) and usability evaluation studies conducted for maritime systems. • Consolidated an HCD framework for future experiment design. • Compiled four scenario (task) categories: typical, sequential, experimental, and hierarchical. • 82% 18% Of the reviewed studies, 82% focused on vessel-related systems, while 18% explored shore-based systems. • Proposed trends and guidelines for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the colonial fishing villages and maritime infrastructure along the early modern Newfoundland shoreline. It argues that, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the establishment of settlements and the construction of seagoing vessels, preservation stations, and other logistical sites at and across the littoral line supported the commercialization of the global cod market while fundamentally altering the coastal ecologies of the North Atlantic waters. The Grand Banks of Newfoundland, the underwater plateaus that provided shallow feeding conditions for underwater life, made the sea shelf one of the richest fishing regions in the world. On a global scale, the commercial extraction and preservation of cod supported the expanding diet and political economy of the early modern imperial state. On a local scale, the construction of buildings along the shoreline intruded on the littoral ecosystem and impelled the relocation of the native Beothuk inhabitants to the island's interior, thereby highlighting the genocidal ramifications of European coastal development. How, this article asks, might one conceptualize the logistical architecture of the Newfoundland fisheries as both a spatial node within a global network of trade as well as a material intrusion into the ecology of the North Atlantic coastline? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sailing ships required miles of rope for rigging, and its frequent replacement. Most ports of any size had roperies or rope manufactures that transformed hemp or other materials through combing, twisting, and tarring to produce a strong product that would resist the stresses of strain and water. A ready supply of rope supported expanding navies and merchant companies, and competition for more efficient production spurred competition between port cities. To make long lengths of rope, uninterrupted straight areas were needed close to the waterfront. Sometimes these were covered spaces, sometimes streets or walks set aside for the purpose. Ropewalks shaped ports through the creation of linear demarcations against the irregular edge where water meets land. Rope manufacture was an essential industry for ports but also a frequent site of fires that often did great damage to dense urban areas. The importance of rope as a pre-modern industry is gone yet the traces of it remain in the extended port landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the age of colonial expansion, European merchant companies used paper technologies as tools of control. This article analyses a set of tables produced in the 1690s by employees of the Dutch East India Company, as they recorded their daily efforts on a new method of desalinating ocean water. These printed "formulieren" should be viewed not only as a novel extension of the nautical logbook but also as an early phase in the development of questionnaires. Adapted from clerical formularies, these structured tabular records are an early instance of a single-purpose data collection document, one linked with a new piece of technology, for which performance was to be measured daily. These sparse columns allow us to recover the practices of the "watermakers" themselves: some filled out the tables diligently, others gave rough estimates after the fact. Each of these men approached a supposedly standard technology in a different way, allowing us to uncover surprising individualism from within columns of numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hitchhiking bistatic radar system takes the direct wave signal that is transmitted by the non-cooperative radar emitter as the reference to detect and analyze the target echo signal, so as to realize the positioning and tracking of the target. This radar system has the advantages of low cost and strong survivability. Aiming at the problem of passive radar to covert the detection of maritime targets, this paper develops a hitchhiking bistatic radar system for maritime target detection, which uses the shore-based radar as the non-cooperative radar emitter. By continuously collecting the direct wave and target echo data of the non-cooperative radar, the direct wave reference signal reconstruction, pulse compression, interference suppression and synchronization processing, non-coherent integration, MTI (moving target indication), clutter map processing, and adaptive CFAR (constant false alarm rate) detection are completed to obtain the azimuth, bistatic range, and Doppler frequency of the target, and finally realize the positioning of non-cooperative maritime targets. This paper first introduces and demonstrates the composition principle of the system, introduces the signal processing implementation method of the system in detail, and tests and analyzes the key algorithms. The experimental results show that the system can realize the passive coherent detection of maritime moving targets and locate multiple targets at the same time. The experiment obtains a very clear PPI (plane position indicator) display picture of the hitchhiking bistatic radar system, and the radar detection data of the experimental system is in good agreement with the AIS (automatic identification system) data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]