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Some European governments subsidize their residents when they travel at sea. This paper seeks to analyze the impact on prices of maritime passengers’ subsidies in Europe. Following a review of the scarce academic literature on this topic and the subsidy scheme in Europe, a sample of firms’ prices and other characteristics of 40 European routes for 2016 are analyzed. Both an estimation of a price equation and a matching approach are applied and reach the same conclusion: prices per kilometer are around 40 per cent higher on those subsidized routes due to subsidies. This outcome reduces the potential subsidy gain to consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historiography has paid insufficient attention to the influence of winds and currents. The rise of Western European states to global dominance and world empires from the sixteenth century is usually characterised as maritime but should more fittingly be described as Aeolian or 'wind-driven'. This article examines the role winds and currents played in influencing the outline, structure and nature of Western European seaborne empires. It incorporates the patterns of winds and currents in each ocean, and the endeavours and ventures of each major European maritime power into a single global portrait that reveals the extent of the historical influence such factors exerted in the age of sail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime transport and shipping are impacted negatively by biofouling, which can result in increased fuel consumption. Thus, costs for fouling reduction can be considered an investment to reduce fuel consumption. Anti-fouling measures also reduce the rate of introduction of non-indigenous species (NIS). Further mitigation measures to reduce the transport of NIS within ballast water and sediments impose additional costs. The estimated operational cost of NIS mitigation measures may represent between 1.6% and 4% of the annual operational cost for a ship operating on European seas, with the higher proportional costs in small ships. However, fouling by NIS may affect fuel consumption more than fouling by native species due to differences in species’ life-history traits and their resistance to antifouling coatings and pollution. Therefore, it is possible that the cost of NIS mitigation measures could be smaller than the cost from higher fuel consumption arising from fouling by NIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Quebec residual materials management policy implies the banning of organic waste disposal or incineration from 2022 onwards. This policy also applies to domestic ship-generated organic waste. However, little is known about the current state of ship-generated organic waste management in the province of Quebec. This study aims to analyse the current situation and propose sustainable strategies for ship-generated organic waste valorisation in Quebec. Using the available data, it was attempted to estimate ship-generated waste quantities in Quebec, after which the current practices of domestic ship-generated organic waste management in Quebec and Europe were inventoried, along with international waste management practices. Five waste valorisation scenarios were then proposed and compared in terms of advantages and disadvantages, required equipment, and associated costs and revenues. It involves: 1) composting on board of the ship, 2) centralised composting, 3) composting at the port, 4) centralised biomethanation, and 5) biomethanation at the port. The current available data on ship-generated waste quantities in Quebec did, however, not allow selecting an optimal scenario. The information provided in this short communication can serve as a valuable basis to guide future research efforts and decision-making in this regard. Furthermore, the current management of international waste was found to be complex and costly, although biomethanation of such waste could offer a suitable and more sustainable solution. Finally, it was concluded that a good cooperation between ships and ports is crucial to the implementation of any sustainable waste valorisation strategy., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)