This study investigates the effect of economic policy uncertainties on national port throughputs of selected European countries. For this purpose, we used quarterly observations of 21 European countries covering the periods between 2005 Q1 and 2018 Q3. The Granger noncausality test was used for heterogeneous panel data models and we found that economic policy uncertainties have a considerable impact on port throughputs in the selected sample. Causality tests on individual country level have shown that uncertainties in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom have an influence over their port throughputs. Moreover, the present results show cross-sectional dependencies in uncertainty and port throughput variables, indicating that collaborative efforts by European nations are needed to avoid the risks associated with economic policy uncertainties due to the integrated structure of the countries.

The size and importance of maritime transportation in world trade are well known. The number of ports, which is one of the most important elements of maritime transportation, is increasing day by day not only in our country but also throughout the world. Many active fault systems in our country are located at sea. In the Marmara Region in particular, most active branches of the North Anatolian Fault system pass through the Sea of Marmara. When offshore structures such as ports are constructed in high-seismicity zones such as the Sea of Marmara, conducting site-specific seismic hazard studies is necessary to reduce the seismic risk of offshore structures. In 2007, the first Turkish Seismic Design Code for Port Structures was published, which introduced new design concepts in the seismic design of offshore structures. According to this code, the design can be finalized in three basic steps: assessment of regional seismicity, estimation of geotechnical hazards, and soil-structure interaction analysis of offshore structures. Nowadays, the first Turkish Seismic Design Code for Port Structures is on the verge of a major update, which was published as a draft report in May 2019. In this manuscript, site-specific probabilistic seismic hazard analysis is needed to determine the seismic hazard associated with typical port sites. Considering this new draft code as a guideline document, we developed consistent seismic hazard studies for offshore structures within the Haydarpaþa Port sites. Unlike the old one, this new document identifies four different levels of ground motion: minimum damage level earthquake (TR=72), limited damage level earthquake (TR=144), controlling damage level earthquake (TR=475), and maximum considered earthquake (TR=2.475).

The Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) publishes a white, gray, and black list, presenting the full spectrum from quality flags to flags with poor performance that are considered high or very high risk every year. At this point, increasing the flag’s performance can be achieved by eliminating the deficiencies and detentions in the ships. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine the performance of Turkish-flagged ships under the Paris MoU port state control (PSC) to determine the deficiencies of the ships and to make suggestions for measures that may be taken by the Republic of Turkey as a relevant flag state. Accordingly, the PSC data of Turkish-flagged ships between 2013 and 2020 in the EMSA THETIS have been analyzed. Comparison and descriptive distributions for the data of Turkish-flagged ships have been performed by creating cross tables of the distribution of ship type, inspection type, age of ships, detention ports, and detention decisions. An autoregressive distributed lag bound test has been carried out to understand whether the deficiencies and age of the ships can significantly affect the detention decision of ships at the port under the Paris MoU. Consequently, while deficiencies on the ships are found to significantly affect the decision of the detention of ships, the age of ships doesn’t have a significant effect under the Paris MoU.

This paper discusses the role of human performance variability in ship-to-ship collisions. Accordingly, an analysis was carried out based on the functional resonance analysis method (FRAM). A ship-to-ship collision report from Indonesia was used to generate the FRAM model for ship-ship encounters. This model was formed using six functions: maneuvering, watchkeeping, bridge communication, bridge-to-bridge communication, bridge-to-port communication, and engine control. Using FRAM, the cause of the collision accident can be determined based on the results of this analysis. This study emphasizes that the emergence of unwanted outcomes results from the unique interaction of the unexpected variability performance of functions between two ships during encounter situations. The resonance phenomenon explained how this unique interaction amplifies the effect of ship operation, performance variability. The use of FRAM could elucidate the complexity in ship operation and provide a more in-depth analysis for ship-to-ship collision accidents.

Today, occupational health and safety is a prominent issue in all branches of the industry. In Turkey, shipyards are highly prone to accidents related to occupational safety. Clearly defining hazard risks and taking precautions against identified priority risks are essential in preventing these risks. This study proposes a two-stage risk-assessment method based on spherical fuzzy sets (SFSs), which is a new fuzzy set theory. A systematic risk-assessment tool with the SFSs was developed combining two of the most reliable decision-making methods: “Analytical hierarchy process (AHP)” and “VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR).” The proposed method was applied in a real case study considering the shipyards in Turkey. Results showed that the developed two-stage risk-assessment approach provides reasonable results in identifying high-risk hazards to ensure occupational safety in a shipyard. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to show the reliability and validity of the results.

Gulets built-in Bodrum region, known as Bodrum gulets, are special and unique yachts with a rich historical background and aesthetic designs. Besides aesthetics, the engineered design is important for such leisure crafts; thus, hull characteristics should be analyzed using a binary approach. In this paper, the hull form characteristics of Bodrum gulets with round and transom sterns are investigated, and parametric models based on geometrical dimensions are developed. In order to obtain reliable results, 20 round stern and 24 transom stern Bodrum gulets are used for the parametric evaluation. Hydrostatic parameters of these models are calculated, and general characteristics such as beaminess and fullness are obtained. Additionally, the Holtrop-Mennen method is also used to estimate the resistance performances of these displacement type hulls. The distinctive or similar characteristics of these types of yachts are presented and compared. Finally, a parametric framework is developed for use in the preliminary design stage of such yachts.

Population growth has enhanced the need for agricultural products. Ammonium nitrate (AN)-based fertilizers are well known to increase product yield. Unfortunately, this type of fertilizer presents serious risks on account of its volatile nature. Accidents continue to occur despite international regulations and practices to eliminate or reduce risks arising from maritime transport to acceptable levels. In the present study, risks related to the transport of AN-based fertilizers were identified through root cause analysis of the M/V Cheshire accident. The relationships between the detected risks and probabilities were quantitatively evaluated using the Bayesian network method, and suggestions to prevent accidents caused by mistakes made during the transport of AN-based fertilizers were provided.

The levels of institutionalization have varied in organizations affecting their success and sustainability in business. The objective of this study is to develop a model for determining the level of institutionalization in which family-owned organizations operate the Level of Institutionalization for Organizations (LIFO) by a collaborative social research. This research contributes to the institutional theory by developing a model for an innovative approach to harmonize family and business at the institutional level with 68 variables derived from institutional theory. It also contributes to family businesses in maritime transportation as the LIFO model was used to determine the institutionalization level of shipowners in general as family-owned businesses. The model is based on the variables in both new and old institutional theory. A semi-constructed questionnaire was conducted among 64 out of a total of 244 of shipping companies registered within the country that operate globally. The data is collected through face to face interviews carried out with the heads of family-owned businesses. The data is used for qualitative content analysis. The results reveal the establishments of these organizations were set on firm bases in the pre-institutionalization level; there were fluctuations in doing business and differing attitutes among organizations in the same field in the semi-institutionalization level; there are bigger issues in the sustainability and insitutionalisation of family in the level of full-institutionalization.