Category: Marine water

Myth or Fact? The concept of ‘Working with Nature’ for maritime infrastructure projects

Most maritime infrastructure projects are required to undergo vigorous environmental and cultural or social impact assessments before being given the green light to be implemented. These evaluations look out for evidence demonstrating avoidance, minimisation or mitigation of impacts in the preparation, actual construction and post-construction phases.

We ask Juan C. Savioli, Head of the Coastal and Estuarine Department in our office in Malaysia, six questions on ‘Working with Nature’ and whether it is possible to integrate this concept into marine infrastructure designs. Continue reading “Myth or Fact? The concept of ‘Working with Nature’ for maritime infrastructure projects”

Agent-based modelling: Dynamic mapping of the movements of marine life

It is without question that the effects of human-derived underwater noise on marine life are receiving increased attention from scientists, regulators and the public. One of the core issues is the displacement of marine life from important areas due to behavioural responses to underwater noise from shipping, airguns and pile driving. Another issue is the impairment of hearing, which can be temporary (temporary threshold shift, TTS) or permanent (permanent threshold shift, PTS). Both effects can, at least in theory, lead to population-wide impacts to marine species. Continue reading “Agent-based modelling: Dynamic mapping of the movements of marine life”

Oil spill trajectories in emergency situations: from nerdy models to an easy online service

It is a well-known fact that accidental oil spills can cause significant negative impacts on the environment – affecting ecosystems, bringing distress to marine life, damaging waterways, ruining infrastructure and economy, to name a few.

The 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico – often cited as the worst environmental disaster in the United States – saw up to 800,000 bird mortalities and approximately 60% decline in the number of laughing gulls along the Gulf coast between 2010 and 2013. Demands are therefore being placed on oil companies, service providers and environmental authorities to be prepared to take proper and efficient action, should an accident occur. Continue reading “Oil spill trajectories in emergency situations: from nerdy models to an easy online service”

Automated bird monitoring in offshore wind farms

Compliance with regulatory requirements increasingly demands clear evidence on how birds behave within and around wind farms. To meet this demand, automated multi-sensor monitoring systems such as MUSE have been developed to provide robust data on real-life bird behaviour at and within wind farms. The MUSE system is based on integrated radar and digital camera(s) and was developed during a four-year pioneering investigation on seabird behaviour at offshore wind turbines; the Carbon Trust Bird Collision Avoidance Study 2014-2017. Continue reading “Automated bird monitoring in offshore wind farms”

What are the constraints of traditional numerical modelling?

Calculating wave impacts in ports and terminals

Operational safety is at stake when wave movement is high in ports and terminals. As such, port authorities and key stakeholders are concerned with wave conditions affecting vessel motions to avoid costly consequences. In addition, high vessel motions may damage mooring lines, fenders, or even the moored vessels in the port. What if there was a faster, better and easier way to model waves in ports as compared to existing methods? Continue reading “What are the constraints of traditional numerical modelling?”

Global Wind Day: How do wind turbines work?

Celebrating the power of wind

Thanks to global efforts and agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in tackling climate change, we are observing a boom in renewable energy growth, especially in wind energy. Continue reading “Global Wind Day: How do wind turbines work?”

Accidental oil spills giving you a headache? It’s time to plan ahead

Accidental oil spills remind us of the dramatic impacts that oil can have on the environment. They also bring into focus the importance of efficient emergency planning. Continue reading “Accidental oil spills giving you a headache? It’s time to plan ahead”

The secret to supporting sustainable marine aquaculture

Aquaculture is a booming business all over the world, but it is heavily dependent on ambient aquatic conditions.
Sustainable aquaculture requires innovative solutions in order to meet the challenges of nature.
So what’s the secret to being successful in this industry?
Continue reading “The secret to supporting sustainable marine aquaculture”

Three steps to increase port efficiency in the planning stage

New dynamic mooring analysis tool allows even better planning of port layout

A port planner knows that the efficiency of a terminal could already be decided during early port planning stages – just by looking at predicted vessel motions. There’s a way to do so even more efficiently as I will describe below. In the initial planning process, all kinds of dynamic impacts should be included into the picture. Continue reading “Three steps to increase port efficiency in the planning stage”

Reducing port sedimentation: Why careful planning of port layouts is important on sandy coasts

Improved long-term predictions of the bathymetry in ports now possible due to new innovative modelling technology.

For many ports and harbours, maintenance dredging is the biggest single expenditure in their goal to ensure clear and safe navigation.
Along sandy coasts, sediment is transported along the shoreline by the impact of waves, tide and currents, and potentially accumulates in port areas.

Continue reading “Reducing port sedimentation: Why careful planning of port layouts is important on sandy coasts”