Sanjin Valčić

Air pollution from cruise ships

Maritime transport is one of the leading sources of air pollution in port and coastal cities. A significant contribution to air pollution caused by the activities related to maritime traffic refers to traffic of cruise ships, which regularly consume considerable amounts of fuel in ports due to increased demand for electricity. The combustion of these fuels results in emissions containing relatively high concentration of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, as well as carbon dioxide. In the form of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) they contaminate the environment and become dangerous to the health of living beings. With the increase in the traffic of cruise ships the amount of ship emissions is also increasing and thus the contribution to air pollution is becoming highly important. This paper analyzes the impact of cruise ships on the air quality in the city of Dubrovnik, according to data from measuring station Žarkovica.

A Model of OFDM based Maritime VHF Communication System for Data Exchange

Abstract In the maritime Very High Frequency (VHF) band, there are no systems for transmitting large amounts of data. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new systems that would modernize the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), significantly relieve the Automatic Identification System’s (AIS) communication channels, and set guidelines for the development of communication infrastructure of the e-Navigation. In line with this, analytical and simulation models of the maritime VHF data transmission communication system using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation are worked out in this paper. The achieved data rate, the spectral efficiency and the bit error rate (BER) represent validation parameters on which the results of the analytical and simulation models are evaluated. It is concluded that the application of the digital OFDM modulation in the maritime VHF band may improve the GMDSS system by achieving higher data rates compared to the current terrestrial mandatory systems for data exchange, i.e. Digital Selective Calling (DSC) and AIS.

Assesment and prediction model of ballast water management

The ballast water onboard ships is of great importance for safe and economical navigation regarding the ships stability, stress, trim, list, draft, etc. However, loading and discharging the ballast water from one environment to another may result in the transfer of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens (HAOP). The overview of the regulations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other international and regional organizations related to the harmful impact of the ballast water management and exchange is outlined in this paper. In addition, the statistics of the ballast water discharges in the Port of Rijeka is presented, as well as the model for the exposure assessment of discharged chemicals.