There has been a rapid increase in the use of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) throughout the world recently, partly due to the continued loss of marine biodiversity and habitat. The sustainability of marine resources is threatened in all regions of the world by major events such as climate change, marine pollution, overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing both on the high seas and in country waters. Here, we present a comprehensive review and analysis of how economic information has been applied and used to inform decisions about MSP in British Columbia (BC), Canada and other similar jurisdictions. This focus for the paper was selected because important gaps remain in the literature in terms of incorporating economic questions into MSP. We first present different definitions of MSP, and then we extract useful lessons from MSP regimes with well–tested decision support tools, and use this to guide MSP implementation in BC. We finally present and discuss case studies from Australia, South Africa and Belgium. Our review suggests that applying economic information to support the design and implementation of MSPs would lead to better decisions. This in turn would foster livelihoods, attract finance, increase buy–in and advance United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water, thereby achieving Infinity Fish, i.e., ensuring that ocean benefits flow to humanity forever.

On February 28th, 2023, Spanish Royal Decree 150/2023 as published, approving the plans for the management of the maritime space of the five Spanish marine demarcations. This Royal Decree Law inaugurates the Planning of the Maritime Space in Spain. Terrestrial Space Planning is very advanced, both in the legislation and in the instruments that are enabled to organize this space, from the national scale to the municipal scale, passing through the regional, provincial, and supra-municipal scales. Naturally, both Planning must converge and thus speak of an Integrated Space Planning. In some of the countries that we can take as global references, this convergence in the form of integration is taking place. On the other hand, and within the context of climate change, coastal cities will be the most affected, both by the potential rise in sea level and by the increasingly continuous and greater extreme events. Integrated Space Planning is postulated as the most effective tool to carry out adequate territorial and urban planning of our coastal cities, as well as to analyse the influence and possible corrective measures to apply against the effects produced by climate change.

Understanding aspects of maritime/underwater cultural heritage (MUCH) and the associated cultural values and integrating them into maritime spatial planning (MSP) endeavors, is a new global challenge, alongside the rapid increase of human activities at sea and climate change impacts on the seas and the oceans. The article highlights the significance of cultural values in shaping human interactions with the marine environments, and how MSP can address the cultural dimensions of marine resources management. To this end, a systematic literature review was carried out to address the research question on how maritime/underwater cultural heritage is incorporated into MSP and map relevant academic literature. Following, a methodology that entailed an academic database search and the application of exclusion criteria, 346 articles resulted from Scopus. These articles were classified using science mapping techniques (i.e the VOSviewer Software ) and several categories (clusters) were created. The research showed a diversity of literature addressing the relationship between MUCH and MSP with a strong focus on sustainability, the significance of cultural ecosystem services (CES) and cultural values, the role of indigenous and local communities, but also of local stakeholders, the transfer of traditional knowledge to MSP and the participatory approaches and tools. The article concludes that for MSPlans to be innovative and acceptable by local communities, the “missing layer”of socio-cultural values and data is indispensable. In the MSP process, MUCH should be understood within this broader framework of socio-cultural considerations and values.

Merchant marine fleet is under inspections by several parties to ensure maritime regulation compliance. One of the major effects on implementation of regulations by International Maritime Organization (IMO) is indeed Port State Control. This article aims to analyze Paris Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) all detention remarks from 2013 to 2019 for EU15 countries (except Luxemburg and Austria) through an approach based on Analytical Hierarchy Process and demonstrate the results on Geographic Information System (GIS) to guide marine industry on detainable Port State Control remarks and country risk profile. While Analytical Hierarchy Process Approach has been used to indicate the ranking of basic maritime regulations from the perspective of the port state control , GIS help us to demonstrate the regional dispersion amongst EU15. The data of the detained vessel taken from the public website of Paris MOU and each report considered as a professional judgement that causes detention. It has been shown that almost all countries top priorities for regulation are Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and Fire Safety Systems (FSS). Consequently, the results of the study can assist Port State Officers, ship crew, ship owners and managers presenting the facts of their inspection and able to improve themselves. The spatial analysis also expected to guide ship owners and managers to focus their vessel’s deficiencies to prevent sub-standardization.

Keywords: Ecosystem services; Cultural Ecosystem Services; marine/maritime spatial planning; mapping, assessment, tools, methods, PPGIS

Many causal factors to marine traffic accidents (MTA) influence each other and have associated effects. It is necessary to quantify the correlation path mode of these factors to improve accident prevention measures and their effects. In the application of human factors to the accident mechanisms, the complex structural chains on causes to MTA systems were analyzed combining the Human Failure Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) with theoretical Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). First, the accident causation model was established as a human error analysis classification in sight of MTA, and the constituent elements of the causes of accident was conducted. Second, a hypothetical model of Human factors classification was proposed applying the practice of the structural model. Third, with the data resource from ship accident cases, this hypothetical model was discussed and simulated, and as a result the relationship path dependency mode between the latent independent variable of the accident was quantitatively analyzed based on the observed dependent variable of human behaviors. Application examples show that relationships in HFACS are verified and in line with the path developing mode, and resource management factors have a pronounced influence and a strong relevance to the causal chain of the accidents. Appropriate algorithms for the theoretical model can be used to numerically understand the safety performance of marine traffic systems under different parameters through mathematical analysis. Hierarchical assumptions in the HFACS model are quantitatively verified.

The global trade and transportation sectors heavily rely on the maritime industry. Still, its dependence on fossil energy sources poses significant environmental challenges and leads to unstable fuel prices that affect the cost of goods transported by sea. This paper aims to evaluate the viability of seaports as energy-intensive entities and explore the feasibility of implementing a Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy System (NRHES). The study presents a case study of the Tanjung Priok Port in Indonesia, focusing on estimating energy consumption, emissions, and the potential impact of carbon taxation on seaport operations. By quantifying these factors, the research provides insights into the energy requirements, environmental effects, and potential costs associated with seaport carbon taxation. A comprehensive analysis of the technical and economic feasibility of implementing an NRHES in the seaport case study is conducted, determining the optimal sizing and composition of components, considering the proportion of nuclear and renewable energy sources. Additionally, the economic analysis considers energy costs, net present cost, cash flow, return on investment, and internal rate of return. The findings aim to inform decision-makers about the benefits and challenges of adopting an NRHES, contributing to a cleaner and more sustainable future for the maritime industry.

The authors present a framework for assessing seasonal events which may influence maritime operations. Most maritime-related research tends to focus on single events, such as a storm, but maritime systems operate within complex systems that have some predictable patterns. These predictable patterns due to natural events, such as weather and water levels, can influence operations, while other factors, such as cargo peaks or cultural activities, could also shape maritime systems. By integrating data from emergency management databases and weather information sources with other inputs, the authors created a matrix of regionally specific predictable events that may occur within a region by time of year. The matrix was vetted with various stakeholder groups to verify the information in the matrix. The main findings were that a seasonal event matrix is helpful as a reference for examining operational patterns in a river for various uses, such as training, operational planning, and emergency response coordination.

The concentration of chlorophyll-a (chlor-a) is an important indicator of marine water quality, as it is considered an indicator of the phytoplankton density in a specific area. Remote sensing techniques have been developed to measure the near-surface concentration of chlor-a in water across the correlation between spectral bands and in situ data. This algorithm applies to sensors of varying spatial, temporal and spectral resolutions. However, in this study, chlor-a level 2 and 3 products of SNPP – VIIRS spectrometer (Equation OC3) of NASA OceanColor suite was relied upon to study the spatial and temporal distribution of chlor-a concentration in the Arabian Gulf (also known as the Persian Gulf) and the State of Kuwait’s water (located to the north-eastern part of the Arabian Gulf) from 2012 to 2019. Ground truthing points (n = 192) matched to the level 2 products have been used to build an empirical model and cross-validate it. The correlation was positive where was 0.79 and the validation RMSE was = ± 0.64 mg/m^-3. The derived algorithm was then applied to chlor-a level 3 seasonal products. Additionally, the chlor-a concentration values of Kuwaiti waters have been enhanced using the IDW algorithm to increase the spatial resolution, as it is considered as a small area compared to the spatial resolution of level 3 chlor-a products. The model derived from IDW was tested using the Mann Whitney test (Sig = 0.948 p > 0.01). However, the result showed that the chlor-a concentration is higher in Kuwait Bay compared to Kuwaiti water, and it is higher in Kuwaiti water compared to the Arabian Gulf. The coasts have higher concentrations too, when compared to the open water. Generally, the chlor-a increases in winter and makes a semi-regular cycle during the years of study; this cycle is more regular in the Gulf’s waters than in Kuwait’s.

In today's world, wherein more than 80% of world trade is carried out by maritime routes, the safety and security of the seas where this trade takes place is of vast importance for nations and the in-ternational community. For this reason, ensuring the sustainable safety and security of the seas has become an integral part of the mission of all maritime-related entities. The utilization of big data extracted from the seas and maritime activities into meaningful information with artificial intelli-gence applications and developing applications that can be used in maritime surveillance will be of great importance for augmenting maritime safety and security. In this article, data sources which can be used by a maritime surveillance system based on big data and artificial intelligence tech-nologies and which can be established around sensitive sea areas and critical coastal facilities, are identified and a model proposal using this maritime big data is put forward.

Maritime data not only identify financial resources that can significantly enhance the efficiency of shipping companies but also play a pivotal role in promoting eco-friendly and sustainable shipping practices. However, active corporate strategies are required to include maritime data essential for the commercial operation of autonomous ships in the form of corporate assets by transparent evaluating the data. The aim of this study is to review previous studies on da-ta-valuation models, identify a valuation model suitable for maritime business, consider the characteristics of maritime data. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method is used to derive priorities for valuing maritime data assets, with emphasis placed on the characteristics of mari-time data, followed by the character of the future-oriented maritime-data market and the da-ta-valuation model. The results obtained that the most important factors in selecting a maritime data-valuation model by analyzing the AHP method were identified as the characteristics of the maritime data(M1). The next most important factors analyzed were the features of the mari-time-data market(M2) and the features of the maritime data-valuation model(M3) in order. In addition, the characteristics of maritime data were preferentially considered among the main criteria, and the market approach (A2) was selected as the most optimal valuation model. The potential impact of this implementation could contribute to the establishment of an intelligent technology market by estimating the value of data and developing a platform for maritime data trading, allowing for more efficient data sharing and utilization by maritime autonomous sur-face ship(MASS).

This paper examines hybrid threats to maritime transportation systems, and their governance re-sponses; focusing on the congested Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) as an illustrative case study. The methodology combines secondary sources with primary data from 42 expert in-terviews, a 30-respondent survey, and two maritime security roundtables. Key findings were that ships’ critical systems are increasingly interconnected, yet aging IT infrastructure and minimal cybersecurity awareness among crews heighten risks. Meanwhile, regional terrorist groups have previously targeted shipping and shown considerable skill in exploiting online tools, aligning with broader calls for jihadist violence. Further, opportunistic piracy persists in the SOMS with the po-tential to disrupt shipping. Experts confirmed maritime cybersecurity lags other critical infra-structure sectors and needs updated governance. Initial International Maritime Organization (IMO) guidelines lack specificity but revisions and updated IMO guidance are in process, while Port state implementation of maritime cybersecurity standards varies. Crucially, information sharing remains inadequate, even as recorded attacks increase. Findings underscore that although major hybrid incidents have not occurred, simulations and threat actors’ capabilities demonstrate potential for catastrophic collisions or cascading disruption in congested waterways. Mitigating factors like redundancy and crew training are deficient currently. Some alignment between SOMS states on maritime security cooperation exists, but not cyber threats specifically. Key recommen-dations include an anonymous cyber-attack reporting system, reinforced training and shipboard systems, and consolidated regional frameworks. Until these priorities are addressed, the analysis concludes that hybrid vulnerabilities in this vital global chokepoint remain a serious concern.

The maritime economy is at the forefront of unprecedented sustainability challenges. Addressing ecological externalities in port operations supports the decarbonization goals of the United Nations (UN) Climate Action program and port city transition towards resilient and sustainable urban units. This research brings out an empirical assessment of seaport performance from an eco-environmental point of sustainability with a non-parametric analysis. Most common indicators from the cross-sectoral Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) database for 21 world’s busiest seaports are used for the analysis. This research integrates four different models with inputs: CO2 emission, electricity consumption, waste, and water consumption, and; outputs: employee, revenue, and container throughput. Projection pathways are established for inefficient seaports to improve sustainability performance. The analysis shows that the seaports of Qingdao and Cartagena as the most sustainably performing seaports under the selected maritime sustainability indicators. This research supports port managers in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of their operations and helps frame strategic policies toward achieving overall sustainability in the maritime industry across SDG 14 (marine ecosystem) and SDG 13 (Climate mitigation) goals of the 2030 Urban Agenda.

With the continuing development of sequencing technology, genomics has been applied in a variety of biological research areas. In particular, the application of genomics to marine species, which boast a high diversity, promises great scientific and industrial potential. Significant progress has been made in marine genomics especially over the past few years. Consequently, BGI, leveraging its prominent contributions in genomics research, established BGI-Qingdao, an institute specifically aimed at exploring marine genomics. In order to accelerate marine genomics research and related applications, BGI-Qingdao initiated the International Conference on Genomics of the Ocean (ICG-Ocean) to develop international collaborations and establish a focused and coherent global research plan. Last year, the first ICG-Ocean conference was held in Qingdao, China, during which 47 scientists in marine genomics from all over the world reported on their research progress to an audience of about 300 attendees. This year, we would like to build on that success, drafting a report on marine genomics to draw global attention to marine genomics. We summarized the recent progress, proposed future directions, and we would like to enable additional profound insights on marine genomics. Similar to the annual report on plant and fungal research by Kew Gardens, and the White Paper of ethical issues on experimental animals, we hope our first report on marine genomics can provide some useful insights for researchers, funding agencies as well as industry, and that future versions will expand upon the foundation established here in both breadth and depth of knowledge.This report summarizes the recent progress in marine genomics in six parts including: marine microorganisms, marine fungi, marine algae and plants, marine invertebrates, marine vertebrates and genomics-based applications.

This paper presents a scenario evolution model for maritime accidents using Bayesian networks (BN) to predict the most likely causes of specific types of maritime incidents. The BN nodes encompass accident type, life loss contingency, accident severity, the quarter and time period of the accident, and the type and gross tonnage of the ships involved. We analyzed 5,660 global maritime accidents from 2005 to 2020. Using Netica software, we constructed a Tree Augmented Network (TAN) model, accounting for interdependencies among risk influencing factors. We validated the results through sensitivity analysis and historical accident records. Forward causal inference and reverse diagnostic inference were then performed on each node variable to investigate the accident development trend and evolution process under predetermined conditions. The findings indicate that the model can effectively predict the likelihood of various accident scenarios under specific conditions, as well as the extrapolation of accident consequences. Forward causal reasoning reveals that general cargo ships with a gross tonnage of 1-18,500 t are most likely to experience collision, grounding, and stranding accidents in the first quarter. Reverse diagnostic reasoning indicates that during early morning hours, container ships, general cargo ships, and chemical ships with a tonnage of 1-18,500 t are less likely to involve life loss in the event of collision accidents.

This paper an approach for analyzing the impact of sea level changes on prehistoric human settlement patterns in the Southwestern Iberian Peninsula. The approach is based on highly qualified and fully georeferenced information sources managed within a spatial database. This allows for a more precise analysis of the distance to the coast and its relation to marine resources from a specific location, areas that may have lost their archaeological potential due to being currently submerged, and the actual distribution of sites as a starting point for territorial analysis. Coastal changes, such as sea level fluctuations over the past 120,000 years, have affected the position of the coastline and influenced human settlement patterns. Through an analysis of the archaeological site locations relative to their paleo-coastlines based on available dating data, this study emphasizes the necessity of adopting a comprehensive approach to comprehend human settlement patterns and their correlation with the dynamic coastal changes. This approach provides valuable insights for formulating strategies for exploiting coastal resources and structuring socio-economic systems in the region.

Wave energy converter (WEC) arrays deployed in coastal regions may create physical disturbances potentially resulting in environmental stresses. Presently, limited information is available on the nature of these physical disturbance or the resultant effects. A quantitative Spatial Environmental Assessment Tool (SEAT) for evaluating potential effects of wave energy converter (WEC) arrays on nearshore hydrodynamics and sediment transport is presented for the central Oregon coast (USA) through coupled numerical model simulations of an array of WECs. Derived climatological wave conditions were used as inputs to the model to allow for the calculation of risk metrics associated with various hydrodynamic and sediment transport variables such as maximum shear stress, bottom velocity, and change in bed elevation. The risk maps provided simple, quantitative, and spatially-resolved means of evaluating physical changes in the vicinity of a hypothetical WEC array in response to varying wave conditions. Near-field risk of sediment mobility was determined to be moderate in the lee of the densely spaced array, where the potential for increased sediment deposition could result in benthic habitat alteration. Modifications to the nearshore sediment deposition and erosion patterns were observed near headlands and topographic features, which could have implications for littoral sediment transport. The results illustrate the benefits of a risk evaluation tool for facilitating coastal resource management at early market marine renewable energy sites.

Crinoids (Echinodermata) exhibit unique characteristics that facilitate a wide range of symbiotic relationships with diverse organisms. Nonetheless, the comprehension of their interactions with microscopic copepod crustaceans is still in a nascent and fragmented state. Our analysis identifies 166 instances involving 35 copepod species representing in 6 families in association with 33 species of the Comatulida. The majority of these associations have been singularly reported, with their distribution covering five out of the 12 World Ocean ecoregions. A notable concentration of diversity is observed in the Central and Western Indo-Pacific regions, while documentation of Atlantic copepod-crinoid associations is markedly limited. Copepods are predominantly found in ectosymbiotic relationships, with a lesser incidence of endosymbiotic interactions. Among these, the genus Collocheres and Pseudanthessius emerge as particularly prominent, and the Comasteridae family is distinguished by its diverse copepod associations. While certain copepod families exhibit a specialization towards crinoids, others demonstrate specificity at the species level. The current scope of knowledge encompasses merely 5% of the potential crinoid host diversity, underscoring the critical need for more extensive research in this area.

Marine industries are dependent on the ocean and often have a direct impact on the marine environment. Although previous studies have talked about pollution from marine industries, it is not known to what extent and to what extent these behaviors affect the ocean. Therefore, this study examines the impacts of major marine industries on the marine environment, using China as an example. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China categorizes the quality of seawater into Class I, Class II, Class III, Class IV, and Inferior Class IV in descending order according to the quality from good to poor. In this study, water quality of Class I and Class II are defined as good quality seawater, Class III as average quality, Class IV and Class IV as poor quality, and the proportion of the area of seawater with different water quality to the total area of the sea area symbolizes the overall quality of the marine environment. We use panel data from 11 provinces and cities along the coast of mainland China from 2006 to 2020, estimated by the full feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) method, to study the impacts of the development of coastal tourism, marine transportation, marine shipbuilding, marine salt, mariculture, and marine fishing on the marine environment. The empirical results show that, in descending order of the degree of influence, the marine industries that cause a decrease in the area of good quality seawater are coastal tourism, mariculture and shipbuilding, and the marine industries that cause an increase in the area of poor quality seawater are marine transportation and shipbuilding, while the marine salt industry has no obvious influence on the marine environment, and the development of the marine fishing industry indirectly contributes to the improvement of the marine environment.

Several disruptive attacks against companies in the maritime industry have led experts to consider the increased risk imposed by cyber threats as a major obstacle to undergoing digitization. The industry is heading toward increased automation and connectivity, leading to reduced human involvement in the different navigational functions and increased reliance on sensor data and software for more autonomous modes of operations. To meet the objectives of increased automation under the threat of cyber attacks, the different software modules that are expected to be involved in different navigational functions need to be prepared to detect such attacks utilizing suitable detection techniques. Therefore, we propose a systematic approach for analyzing the navigational NMEA messages carrying the data of the different sensors, their possible anomalies, malicious causes of such anomalies as well as the appropriate detection algorithms. The proposed approach is evaluated through two use cases, traditional Integrated Navigation System (INS) and Autonomous Passenger Ship (APS). The results reflect the utility of specification and frequency-based detection in detecting the identified anomalies with high confidence. Also, the analysis is found to facilitate the communication of threats through indicating the possible impact of the identified anomalies against the navigational operations. Moreover, we have developed a testing environment that facilitates conducting the analysis. The environment includes a developed tool, NMEA−Manipulator that enables the invocation of the identified anomalies through a group of cyber attacks on sensor data. Our work paves the way for future work in the analysis of NMEA anomalies toward the development of an NMEA intrusion detection system.

Recent advances in sampling and novel techniques in drug synthesis and isolation have promoted the discovery of anticancer agents from marine organisms to combat this major threat to public health worldwide. Bryozoans, filter-feeding, sessile aquatic invertebrates often characterized by a calcified skeleton, are an excellent source of pharmacologically interesting compounds including well-known chemical classes such as alkaloids and polyketides. This review covers the literature for secondary metabolites isolated from marine cheilostome and ctenostome bryozoans that have shown potential as cancer drugs. Moreover, we highlight examples such as bryostatins, the most known class of marine-derived compounds from this animal phylum, which is advancing through anticancer clinical trials due to their low toxicity and antineoplastic activity. The bryozoan antitumour compounds discovered until now show a wide range of chemical diversity and biological activities. Therefore, more research focusing on the isolation of secondary metabolites with potential anticancer properties from bryozoans and other overlooked taxa covering wider geographic areas is needed for an efficient bioprospecting of natural products.

The introduction of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS) through the development of autonomous navigation technologies is expected to bring about new technologies, new vessel types, and new job roles such as remote operation center (ROC) and remote operator (RO). The MASS Code are currently being discussed through Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of International Maritime Organization (IMO). This code is expected to be adopted in the form of non-mandatory guidelines until 2025, with the goal of establishing mandatory requirements by 2028. Additionally, revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) related to crew training and qualifications are planned for adoption by 2027, which will include requirements for MASS operators. This paper aims to examine the fundamental competencies required for safe MASS operation by remote operators using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, considering the emergence of the new profession of RO. Building upon the 66 Knowledge, Understanding & Proficiencies (KUPs) outlined for marine officer in the STCW Convention, the study seeks to identify the additional competencies necessary for RO and contribute to the development of a training model for the future.

Huge amounts of chitin and chitosans can be found in the biosphere as important constituent of the exoskeleton of many organisms, as well as waste by worldwide seafood companies. Nowadays, politicians, environmentalists, and industrialists encouraged the use of these marine polysaccharides as renewable source, particularly when developed by alternative eco-friendly processes, especially in the production of regular cosmetics. The aim of this review is to outline the physicochemical and biological properties and the different bioextraction methods of chitin and chitosans sources, focusing on enzymatic deproteinization, bacteria fermentation, and enzymatic deacetylation methods. Thanks to their biodegradability, non-toxicity, biocompatibility, and bioactivity, the application of these marine polymers is widely used in the contemporary manufacturing of biomedical and pharmaceutical products. In the end, advanced cosmetic products based on chitin and chitosans are presented, analyzing different therapeutic aspects about skin, hair, nail, and oral care. The innovative formulations described can be considered as excellent solutions regarding problems in the various body anatomical sectors.

The maritime sector, grapples with environmental challenges, but the adoption of "cold ironing" emerges as a promising solution, signifying a shift toward sustainability by providing energy to ships at port, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and significantly lowering emissions, contributing to global climate change efforts. This transition towards renewable energy is especially crucial for islands like Lesvos, addressing challenges of high energy costs and environmental degradation resulting from reliance on imported fossil fuels, highlighting the potential for positive economic and environmental impacts. The existing literature highlights a research gap in the development of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) to support cold ironing operations, specifically due to the absence of specific data for the power demand needed in such operations and the lack of monitoring data for accurate calculations. This study's primary objective is to utilize real monitoring data from the port of Lesvos to evaluate the power demand for a potential cold ironing application. Additionally, the study aims to analyze the implementation of a wind power park to meet the energy needs of an electric port and evaluate the potential reduction in CO2 emissions. The database of Marine Traffic S.A. was utilized, while the determination of the energy used in-port per ship depended on factors such as the number of arrivals, the duration of hoteling, and the type of engine used by the ships. In addition, the software RETSCREEN was used for the energy analysis of a simulated 20 MW wind park that can support the in-port operations. The combined monthly energy demand for both main and auxiliary engines of shipping vessels at Mytilini port was assessed to be 6118 MWh and averaging a power demand equaled to 8.2 MW. The simulation analysis indicates that the annual electricity delivered to the port can be72080 MWh, with a significant portion remaining unused and exported to the grid, amounting to 14956 MWh annually. Due to demand fluctuations, in-port activities require an additional 924 MWh from the main electrical grid, which highlights the importance of additional measures like energy storage and demand-response practices for the gradual transition to 100% Renewable Energy Sources (RES) operations.

Lignocellulosic biomass fractionation is typically performed using methods that are somehow harsh to the environment, such as in the case of the kraft pulping. In recent years, the development of new sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives has grown significantly. Among the developed systems, bio-based solvents emerge as promising alternatives for biomass processing. Therefore, in the present work, the bio-based and renewable chemicals, levulinic acid (LA) and formic acid (FA), were combined to fractionate lignocellulosic waste (i.e., Maritime pine sawdust) and isolate lignin. Different parameters, such as LA/FA ratio, temperature, and extraction time, were optimized to boost the yield and purity of extracted lignin. The LA/FA ratio was found to be crucial regarding the superior lignin extraction from the waste biomass. Moreover, the increase in temperature and extraction time enhances the amount of extracted residue but compromises the lignin purity and reduces its molecular weight. The electron microscopy images revealed that biomass samples suffer significant structural and morphological changes, which further suggests the suitability of the new developed bio-fractionation process. Same was concluded by the FTIR analysis, in which no remaining lignin was detected in the cellulose-rich fraction. Overall, the novel combination of bio-sourced FA and LA has shown to be a very promising system for lignin extraction of high purity from biomass waste, thus contributing to extend the opportunities of lignin manipulation and valorisation into novel added-value biomaterials.

Changes in crude oil price affect the shipping freight market in three different channels. This study explores the dependence structure between oil prices and maritime freight rates to identify the strongest channel. Therefore, it investigates the relationship between oil prices and three major maritime freight rates; the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), the Baltic Dirty Tanker Index (BDTI), and the Baltic Clean Tanker Index (BCTI). We employ the decomposition method, not studied in the existing literature. The copula approach identifies the time-varying effects and asymmetry in the tail dependence structure between oil prices and freight rates. The main results of this analysis are as follows. The decomposed components display different conditional dependence patterns, and asymmetry is revealed in the upper and lower tail dependence. In the long run, we find more dependence in extreme periods like the financial crises. In short-run fluctuations, we find the dependence increases in an economic boom. The implications of the results suggest that dependence can vary over time and may change depending on extreme events, implying that the complementary strategies of the long run and short run should be different.

Coral recruitment is an important factor to coral reefs in maintaining their health. Currently, numerous coral reefs are facing extreme degradation, which protection and therefore rehabilitation practices are required to reverse. The present study explores the potential role of coral recruitment assessment by citizen scientists about the impacts of human influences towards coral reefs through measurement of coral recruitment values. Only a very small number of studies use forms of pre-launch assessment prior to reef restoration. These methods are able to properly guide vital decision-making information for reef rehabilitation methods and locations. In this initial study we observe significant relationships between reefs with higher coral recruitment values and their health. As compared to other average coral reef values, the reef we measured had higher recruitment values on average. Two sections of the reef had noticeably higher mean corals per square meter compared to average values, while a third section of the reef had a lower frequency. This section has been brought to concern through the pre-launch assessment, and has potential for rehabilitation through coral transplantation and a reduction of anthropogenic actions within the area.

Considering the concerns for emissions reduction in the maritime sector, the present paper evaluates, through modeling and simulation, the oxy-fuel combustion in a two-stroke ship engine (2SE) and the best production system configuration to obtain the required oxygen (O2). An initial model of a ship engine is calibrated with the engine manufacturer’s data, and then adapted to work with O2 as the oxidant to eliminate nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions and with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to control the in-cylinder combustion temperature. Mixed Ionic-Electronic Conducting (MIEC) membranes produce the necessary O2 from the ambient air, which is heated up and pressurized by a heat exchanger and turbocharging coupled system to provide the air conditions required for the proper operation of the MIEC. Several layouts of this system are evaluated for the full load engine operating point to find the optimum O2 production system configuration. Results reveal that the engine operating under oxy-fuel combustion conditions avoids NOx emissions at the expense of higher brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) to obtain the original brake torque, and also expels a stream composed exclusively of CO2 and H2O, what facilitates the separation of CO2 from exhaust gases.

Maritime search and rescue is a crucial component of the national emergency response system, which currently mainly relies on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to detect the objects. Most traditional object detection methods focus on boosting the detection accuracy while neglecting the detection speed of the heavy model. However, it is also essential to improve the detection speed which can provide timely maritime search and rescue. To address the issues, we propose a lightweight object detector named Shuffle-GhostNet-based detector (SG-Det). First, we construct a lightweight backbone, named Shuffle-GhostNet, which enhances the information flow between channel groups by redesigning the correlation group convolution and introducing the channel shuffle operation. Second, we propose an improved feature pyramid model, namely BiFPN-tiny, which has a lighter structure while being capable of reinforcing small object features. Furthermore, we incorporate the atrous spatial pyramid pooling module (ASPP) to the network, which employs atrous convolution with different sampling rates to obtain multi-scale information. Finally, we generate three sets of bounding boxes at different scales – large, medium, and small – to detect objects of different sizes. Compared with other lightweight detectors, SG-Det achieves better tradeoffs across performance metrics, and enables real-time detection with an accuracy rate of over 90% for maritime objects, which shows that it can be better meet the actual requirements of maritime search and rescue.

Recent maritime legislations demand the transformation of the sector to greener and more energy efficient transportation. Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) seems a promising alternative fuel solution that could replace the conventional fuel sources. Various studies have been focused on the prediction of LNG price, however, no previous work has been made on the forecast of spot charter rate of LNG carrier ships. An important knowledge for the maritime industries and companies when it comes to decision-making. Therefore, this study is focused on the development of a machine learning pipeline to address the aforementioned problem by: (i) forming a dataset with variables relevant to LNG; (ii) identifying the variables that impact on the freight price of LNG carrier; (iii) developing and evaluating regression models for short and mid-term forecast. The results showed that the General Regression Neural Network presented a stable overall performance for 2, 4 and 6 months forecast.

Understanding and evaluating urban investment environment is essential for effectively improving the efficiency of resource allocation between cities and promoting overall development of the regional economy. This paper takes 15 node cities on maritime Silk Road covered by the “Belt and Road” as the research object, establishes a dynamic evaluation index system for investment environment, and uses projection pursuit cluster to analyze and evaluate the investment environment of the cities. It is found that the investment environment potential of a city is directly related to the level of social development, economic development, and the degree of opening to the outside world. It is recommended that node cities should seize the important opportunity of the construction of the Maritime Silk Road, introduce world-wide human, financial and material resources to promote regional resources allocation and flow, and continuously improve and upgrade the investment environment quality.

Port state control inspections implemented under the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have become known as one of the best instruments for maritime administrations in European Union (EU) Member States to ensure that the ships docked in their ports comply with all maritime safety requirements. This paper focuses on the analysis of all inspections made between 2013 and 2018 in the top ten EU ports incorporated in the Paris MoU (17,880 inspections). The methodology consists of a multivariate statistical information system (STATIS) analysis using the inspected ship’s characteristics as explanatory variables. The variables used describe both the inspected ships (classification society, flag, age and gross tonnage) and the inspection (type of inspection and number of deficiencies), yielding a dataset with more than 600,000 elements in the data matrix. The most important results are that the classifications obtained match the performance lists published annually by the Paris MoU and the classification societies. Therefore, the approach is a potentially valid classification method and would then be useful to maritime authorities as an additional indicator of a ship’s risk profile to decide inspection priorities and as a tool to measure the evolution in the risk profile of flag over time.

Whereas bait and pitfall trappings are two of the most commonly used techniques for sampling ant assemblages, they have not been properly compared in temperate open habitats. In this study, taking advantage of a large-scale project of heathland restoration (3 sites along the French Atlantic Coast forming a north-south gradient), we evaluated the relative efficiency of these two methods for assessing both taxonomic and functional diversities of ants while accounting for a north south diversity gradient. Ants were collected and identified to species level, and 6 traits related to morphology, behavior (including diet, dispersal and maximum foraging distance) and social life (colony size and dominance type) were attributed to all 23 species. Both observed and estimated species were significantly higher in pitfalls compared to spatially pair-matched bait traps. Functional diversity followed the same pattern, with consistent results for both community weighted mean (CWM) and Rao’s quadratic entropy. Taxonomic and functional diversities from pitfall assemblages increased from North to South locations, following a frequently reported pattern at larger spatial scales. Bait traps can hardly be considered a complementary method to pitfall traps for sampling ants in open temperate habitats, as it appears basically redundant with pitfall traps at least on maritime cliff-tops of the East-Atlantic coast.

Taking into account the increase in the emission of greenhouse gases produced by ships, during navigation and maneuvering in the port, a direct consequence of the increase in maritime traffic, the international community has developed a broad set of regulations to limit such emissions. The installation in commercial ports of automatic mooring systems by means of vacuum suction cups (AMS), thus reducing considerably the time required to carry out the mooring and unmooring maneuvers of ships, is a factor that is considerably influencing the decrease in Emissions of polluting gases in commercial ports with high traffic. The objective of the present work is to verify the influence of the use of the AMS on the emissions of polluting gases produced in the facilities destined to the traffic of container ships. It examines the CO2 emissions of container ships that call in the only three container ports equipped with AMS: Salalah (Oman), Beirut (Lebanon) and Ngqura (South Africa). Between them, these three ports supported the transit of 6 million TEUS in 2017. The calculation of emissions is made taking into account the time saved when performing the mooring maneuvers using the new AMS system compared with when it is not used. To do this, two different calculation methods are used: EPA and ENTEC to then compare the results of the two and thus obtain the reduction in emissions per TEU in these terminals during the mooring maneuvers. The paper concludes with a discussion on the values of the reductions in emissions obtained and the advantages of the installation of AMS in commercial ports located near population centres.

Food and Agricultural Organisation estimates from 2014 suggest 64% of the high seas migratory stocks are either overfished or undergoing overfishing. Illegal fishing exacerbates the damage to marine ecosystems, human rights, and food security, and is yet to be included in the recent United Nations (UN) draft agreement to protect high seas biodiversity. We used catch data from the Sea Around Us Project to determine trends in fishing gear use and the catches of countries fishing in the high seas. Using Two-way ANOVA, Principal Coordinates Analysis, and SIMPER Test, we found that Spain, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, and Ecuador had the highest catches in 2004-2014. Each decade, only 1 in 10 countries (10.8%) caught over 500,000 tonnes, leaving the remaining 90% of countries catching less than 500,000 tonnes. Further analysis showed the mean high seas catch per fishery decreased 55% between the 2000s and the 2010s. Purse seine and longline were increasingly used towards the 2010s. Catch from purse seine and longline accounted for 70.5% and 78.4% of total high seas catch in 1950-2014 and 2004-2014, respectively. Discards were unreported throughout 1950-2014, and the reporting levels of landings varied greatly between countries and gears. We call for immediate action and recommend (1) including international, overarching high seas governance to end illegal and unsustainable fishing in the high seas in the UN draft agreement, and (2) using large mobile marine protected areas in high seas fisheries management through the UN draft agreement.

Biofuels have many environmental and practical benefits as a transportation fuel. They are among the best alternatives to fossil fuels due to their capacity for negative carbon emissions, which is vital for archiving the global ambition of a Net-Zero Economy. However, conventional biofuel production takes place on inland sites and relies on freshwater and edible crops (or land suitable for edible crop production), which has led to the food vs fuel debate. It also suffers technical and economical barriers due to the energy balance and the cost of production compared to fossil fuels. Establishing a coastal integrated marine biorefinery (CIMB) system for the simultaneous production of biofuels, high-value chemicals, and other co-products could be the ultimate solution. The proposed system is based on coastal sites and relies on marine resources including seawater, marine biomass (seaweed) and marine microorganisms (marine yeasts and marine microalgae). The system will not require the use of arable land and freshwater in any part of the production chain and will be linked to offshore renewable energy sources to increase its economic and environmental value. This article aims to introduce the CIMB system as a potential vehicle for addressing global warming and speeding the global effort on climate change mitigation as well as increasing global water, food and energy security. I hope this perspective may serve to draw attention into research funding for this approach.

For many years marine algae has been subject of numerous researches and as a source of natural products with antiviral activity, such as terpenes, alkaloids and sulphated polysaccharides. However, the anti-Zika virus (ZIKV) potential of algae has not been studied. In this study we evaluated extracts seven species of the three major classes of seaweeds (Phaeophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Rhodophyceae) against ZIKV. All seaweeds tested are native of the Brazilian coast, except for Kappaphycus alvarezii that can be cultivated. ZIKV a mosquito-borne flavivirus, has become a public health problem. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of cases and a strong association between ZIKV outbreak and the spread of cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome and microcephaly. All seaweed extracts tested in this work inhibits ZIKV replication in a dose-dependent manner. Caulerpa racemosa, Kappaphycus alvarezii and Osmundaria obtusiloba extracts were able to inhibit viral replication at low concentrations with EC₅₀ values ranging from 1.38 to 1.98 µg/mL. We observed that O. obtusiloba presented a significant virucidal effect. Our results suggest that extracts of C. racemosa, K. alvarezii and O. obtusiloba presented very promising results, being excellent candidates for further studies, demonstrating that marine algae are an interesting source for the development of novel anti-ZIKV agents.

Bioethanol has many environmental and practical benefits as a transportation fuel. It is one of the best alternatives to replace fossil fuels due to its liquid nature which is similar to petrol and diesel fuels traditionally used in transportation. In addition, bioethanol production technology has the capacity for negative carbon emissions which is vital for solving the current global warming dilemma. However, conventional bioethanol production takes place based on an inland site and relies on freshwater and edible crops (or land suitable for edible crop production) for production, which has led to the food vs fuel debate. Establishing a coastal marine biorefinery (CMB) system for bioethanol production that is based on coastal sites and relies on marine resources (seawater, marine biomass and marine yeast) could be the ultimate solution. In this paper, we aim to evaluate the environmental impact of using seawater for bioethanol production at coastal locations as a step towards the evaluation of a CMB system. Hence, a life cycle assessment for bioethanol production was conducted using the proposed scenario named Coastal-Seawater and compared to the conventional scenario, named Inland-Freshwater (IF). The impact of each scenario in relation to climate change, water depletion, land use and fossil depletion was studied for comparison. The coastal-seawater scenario demonstrated an improvement upon the conventional scenario in all the selected impact categories. In particular, the use of seawater in the process had a significant effect on water depletion showing an impact reduction of 31.2%. Furthermore, reductions are demonstrated in natural land transformation, climate change and fossil depletion of 5.5%, 3.5% and 4.2% respectively. This indicates the positive impact of using seawater and coastal locations for bioethanol production and encourages research to investigate the CMB system.

Within an amplicon-based metagenomic study of Archaea, Fungi, and Bacteria in Livingston Island, Maritime Antarctica, in many of the samples antagonisms between these three super kingdoms were observed under the form of an inversely proportional dependence of the richnesses of the three types of microorganisms. This was quantified - based on the observed numbers of the total tags and the numbers of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs), as well as based on four alpha diversity parameters – the Shannon, the Simpson, the Chao1, and the ACE indices. We found that the most discriminative results in the antagonism measuring were observed in the comparison of the numbers of the OTUs and the ACE community richness estimator. The antagonism between Archaea and Fungi was strongest, followed by that of Archaea and Bacteria. The Fungi-Bacteria antagonism was slightly detectable. Pearson and Spearman correlation analysis also showed a statistically significant negative correlation between the fungal and archaeal effective tags, while the correlation between archaeal and bacterial diversity was positive. Indications of the order of primary microbial succession in barren ecological niches were also observed, demonstrating that Archaea and Bacteria are the pioneers, followed by Fungi which in time would displace Archaea.

Tidal stream energy is a low carbon energy source. Tidal stream turbines operate in a turbulent environment, and the effect of the structure between the turbine and seabed on this environment is not fully understood. An experimental study using 1:72 scale models based on a commercial turbine design was carried out to study the support structure influence on turbulence intensity around turbine blades. The study was conducted using the wave-current tank at LABIMA, University of Florence. A realistic flow environment (ambient turbulent intensity = 11%) was established. Turbulence intensity was measured upstream and downstream of a turbine mounted on two different support structures (one resembling a commercial design, the other the same with an additional vertical element), in order to quantify any variation in turbulence and performance between the support structures. Turbine drive power was used to calculate power generation. Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry was used to record and calculate upstream and downstream turbulence intensity. In otherwise identical conditions, performance variation of only 4% was observed between two support structures. Turbulent intensity at 1, 3 and 5 blade diameters, both upstream and downstream, showed variation up to 21% between the two cases. The additional turbulent structures generated by the additional element of the second support structure appears to cause this effect, and the upstream propagation of turbulent intensity is believed to be permitted by surface waves. This result is significant for the prediction of turbine array performance.

After the ban on tributyltin-based antifouling paints, DCOIT (4,5-Dichloro-2-octylisothiazol-3(2H)-one) became one of the most used antifouling biocides. DCOIT is a pseudo-persistent contaminant in port areas and is toxic to non-target species, but its ability to bioaccumulate and be transferred along the trophic chain remains unknown. This study aimed to preliminarily investigate the bioaccumulation, trophic transfer, and biomagnification of DCOIT and SiNC-DCOIT (DCOIT immobilized in silica mesoporous nanocapsules) from the microalga Tetraselmis chuii to the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis during exposure experiments considering 24 h of uptake followed by 72 h depuration. Mussels rapidly internalized and metabolized both DCOIT and SiNC-DCOIT. The predator-prey biomagnification factors (BMFTL) suggested that both forms of the biocide can be trophically transferred, with higher concentrations of DCOIT and SiNC-DCOIT in mussels than in microalgae (BMFTL > 1). However, the bioaccumulation and bioconcentration factors indicated a low bioaccumulation capability in the short term, suggesting that the depuration rate overcomes the uptake. Our findings contribute to the development of environmental risk assessments for DCOIT and SiNC-DCOIT, but do not exclude the possibility of DCOIT bioaccumulation in the long-term in areas with constant input of DCOIT. Further studies are needed to understand these processes under continuous exposure scenarios to DCOIT.

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are natural events produced by massive concentration of toxic phytoplankton that can color red, ocher, brown or yellow large extensions of water, its intensity depends on the different species of phytoplankton involved in the proliferation. The spreading of these formations involves an interaction of biological, chemical, meteorological and anthropogenic factors. Several species with potential toxicity have been reported along Mexican coasts, such as Gymnodinium catenatum, Karenia brevis, Pyrodinium bahamense var. compressum. The toxic bloom not only causes an impact during the event, it produces negative effects afterward, such as accumulating deposits of organic matter, alterations of benthic community structure and composition, species presence/absence, and bioaccumulation of toxins in organisms such as bivalve molluscs mainly. Poisoning may occur by consuming contaminated seafood or by direct exposure to aerosols of the toxins, which can provoke diarrhea or even death. Due to the impact of this type of event on the economy, environment and public health, strategies for monitoring, prevention, and systematic mitigation have been implemented for the evaluation of HAB effects. The aim of this review was to determine the state-of-the art of HAB, their reports and effects on the environment and public health in Mexico.

Porifera, commonly referred to as marine sponges, have stood out as major producers of marine natural products (MNPs). Sponges of the genus Phorbas have attracted much attention along years. They are widespread in all continents, and several structurally unique compounds have been identified from species of this genus. Terpenes, mainly sesterterpenoids, represent the great majority of secondary metabolites isolated from Phorbas species, even though several alkaloids and steroids have also been reported. Many of these compounds have shown a variety of biological activities. Particularly, Phorbas sponges have been demonstrated to be a source of cytotoxic metabolites. In addition, MNPs exhibiting cytostatic, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities, have been isolated and structurally characterized. This work brings an overview of Phorbas secondary metabolites reported since the first study published in 1993 until 2020, and their biological activities.

Various UAV applications, especially those based on reconnaissance and observation missions, often require an unlimited time of flight. This is possible only when a UAV is being continuously power supplied from the ground power source, and that is why tethered UAV systems were developed. Tethered UAV systems are based on multicopters which can hover above the landing pad, or track its position in the case it is movable. The presented research is about the development of a large C3 class hexacopter having a maximal payload of about 1 kg, and takeoff mass of 16 kg, which was tested in maritime conditions during the ferry’s cruise. The main purpose of the hexacopter is the continuous observation of the area ahead of a vessel to detect and localize obstacles in the water. During experimental tests critical phases of flight were identified, the AC-DC power supply unit as well as the power cord unwinder were tested, and the power taken by six BLDC motors was registered. The obtained results can be useful in future work on tethered UAV systems used in windy maritime conditions.

This paper presents an analysis of the sensitivity of controlling an autonomous surface object among a group of encountered objects to the inaccuracy of state control process data. For this purpose, a safe and optimal model of the control process was defined. An algorithm for determining the optimal and safe trajectory of an object, based on the multi-object game model, was developed; for comparative analysis, an algorithm for calculating only the optimal trajectory, not taking into account the maneuverability of other objects, was additionally developed. First, simulation-based studies of the algorithms enabled a comparative analysis of a number of different acceptable strategies for optimally shifting the trajectory of maneuvering objects from a single initial direction. Thereafter, the main goal of this paper was implemented: an analysis of the sensitivity characteristics of safe control, assessed with the risk of collision, both on the inaccuracy of navigation data and on the number of possible control strategies. Finally, final conclusions and a plan for further research on the subject of the paper were formulated.

The purpose of this study was to report data analysis results from the International Health Regulations (2005) Ship Sanitation Certificates (SSC), recorded in the European Information System (EIS). International sea trade and population movements by ships can contribute to the global spread of diseases. SSC are issued to ensure the implementation of control measures if public health risk exists on board. EIS designed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) “Handbook for Inspection of Ships and Issuance of SSC”. Inspection data were recorded and SSC issued by inspectors working at European ports were analysed. From July 2011-February 2017, 107 inspectors working at 54 ports in 11 countries inspected 5579 ships. Of these, there were 29 types under 85 flags (including 19 EU flags). As per IHR (2005) 10,281 Ship Sanitation Control Exception Certificates (SSCEC) and 296 Ship Sanitation Control Certificates (SSCC) were issued, 74 extensions to existing SSC were given, 7565 inspection findings were recorded, and 47 inspections were recorded without issuing an SSC. The most frequent inspection findings were the lack of potable water quality monitoring reports (23%). Ships aged ≥12 years (Odds Ratio, OR = 1.77, 95%Confidence Intervals, CI = 1.37–2.29) with an absence of cargo at time of inspection (OR = 3.36, 95%CI = 2.51–4.50) had a higher probability of receiving an SSCC, while ships under the EU flag had a lower probability of having inspection findings (OR = 0.72, 95%CI = 0.66–0.79). Risk factors to prioritise the inspections according to IHR were identified by using the EIS. A global information system, or connection of national or regional information systems and data exchange, could help to better implement SSC using common standards and procedures.

In many ports, the ship's speed is limited for the safety of navigation. At the same time, ship captains and port pilots choose the speed of the ship, but not higher than the permitted speed of the ship in the port, therefore the speed of the ship also depends on the experience of the ship captains and port pilots and the sailing conditions of the ship in specific conditions. Choosing the optimal speed of ships in port, including the effect of shallow depth, can reduce fuel consumption and ship emissions in ports, which is important for the development of green and sustainable ports. In all cases, shipping safety is the highest priority. The main objectives of the article are determining the optimal speed of ships in ports with low clearance, ensuring navigational safety, reducing fuel consumption and emissions, and at the same time creating a sustainable port. The article presents the methodology of optimal ship speed calculation, minimum ship controllable speed maintenance, fuel consumption and emission reduction methodology and their impact on sustainable and green maritime transport and port development. The developed methodology was tested on real ships and with the help of a calibrated simulator, sailing through harbor channels and harbor waters in low clearance conditions.

The levels of informatization, automation, and intelligence are continuously improving; however, the risks due to the increased design and operational complexity of ship systems are increasing. Large-scale ship accidents occur for various reasons. Existing accident analysis methods that examine marine accidents from the perspective of causal one-to-one correspondence have limitations in systematically analyzing complex marine risks when identifying their causes for the prevention of similar accidents. This study focuses on a systematic causality analysis of the factors related to human errors in marine accidents that may occur during the arrival and departure of mega container ships. In particular, a representative case of the Milano Bridge crane contact accident at Busan New Port is considered. To explore the complex organizational–technical, human–technical, and organizational–human relationships relevant to this case, human factors (seafarer, pilot, etc) that are closely related to the linked causes were analyzed using the functional resonance analysis method. This study aims to reduce human error and prevent marine accidents including pilotage.

Maritime transport has become very important due to its ability to internationally unite all continents. In turn, during the last two years, we have observed that the increase of consumer goods has resulted in global shipping deadlocks. In addition, the future goes through the role of ports and efficiency in maritime transport, with the aim of decarbonizing its impact on the environment. In order to improve the economy and people's lives, in this work, we propose to enhance services offered in maritime logistics. To do this, a communications system is designed on the deck of ships to transmit data through a constellation of satellites using interconnected smart devices based on IoT. Among the services, we highlight the monitoring and tracking of refrigerated containers, the transmission of geolocation data from GPS, and security through AIS. This information will be used for a fleet of ships to make better decisions and help guarantee the status of the cargo, as well as maritime safety on the routes. The system design, network dimensioning, and a communications protocol for decision-making will be presented.

Microgrid is one of the promising green transition technologies that will provide enormous benefit to the seaport, as a solution to the major concerns in this sector, namely energy crisis, economical and environmental pollution. However, finest design of the microgrid is a challenging task considering different objectives, constraints and uncertainties involved. To ensure the optimal operation of the system, determining the right configuration framework and size for each component in the seaport microgrid at the minimum cost is a vital decision at the design stage. This paper aims to design a hybrid system of seaport microgrid with optimally sized component .The selected case study is the Port of Aalborg, Denmark. The proposed grid-connected structure consists of renewable energy sources (photovoltaic system and wind turbines), an energy storage system and cold ironing as seaport’ loads. The architecture is then optimized by utilizing HOMER to meet the maximum load demand by considering a few parameters such as solar global horizontal irradiance, temperature and wind resources. Then, the best configuration framework is analyzed in terms of economic feasibility, energy reliability and environmental impact.

Seaports are well known as the medium that has evolved into the central link between sea and land for complex marine activities. The growth in maritime logistics especially necessitates a large volume of energy supply to maintain the operation of sea trade, resulting in an imbalance between the generation and demand sides. Future projections for three major concerns show an increase in load demand, cost of operation, and environmental issues. In order to overcome these problems, integrating microgrids as an innovative technology in the seaport power system appears to be a vital strategy. It is believed that microgrids enhance the seaport operation by providing sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective energy. Despite the fact that microgrids are well established and widely used in a variety of operations on land, their incorporation into the seaport is still limited. The involvement of a variety of heavy loads such as all-electric ships, cranes, cold ironing, and buildings infrastructure makes it a complicated arrangement task in several aspects, which necessitate further research and leave space for improvement. In this paper, an overview of the seaport microgrids in terms of their concepts, requirements, and operation management is presented. It provides the perspectives of integrating the microgrid concept into a seaport from both shore side and seaside as a smart initiative for the green ports vision. Future research directions are discussed towards the development of more efficient marine power system.

A severe flash flood hit Luwu, Sulawesi, Indonesia, on 13 July 2020. This flood was preceded by persistent heavy rainfall from 11 to 13 July 2020. In this study, we explore both the physical and dynamical processes that caused the heavy rainfall using a convection-permitting model with 1-km resolution. The heavy rainfall was modulated by the development of a pair of Mesoscale Convective Complexes (MCCs) during the night. The pair of MCCs was triggered by an anti-cyclonic vorticity anomaly over the Makassar Strait and was maintained by the warm front passing between the sea and land over central Sulawesi. This front was characterized by moist-warm and cold-dry low-level air, which may have helped to extend the lifetime of the MCCs. The northwestward propagation of the MCCs was due to the interaction between predominantly southeasterly monsoon and sea surface temperature anomalies.

Natural alkaloids of actinomycetes origin and synthetic derivatives have always been among the important suppliers of small-molecule drugs. Among their biological sources, Streptomyces is the highest and most extensively researched genus. Marine-derived Streptomyces strains harbor unconventional metabolic pathways and have been demonstrated to be efficient producers of biologically active alkaloids since more than 60% of these compounds exhibit valuable activity such as antibacterial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory activity, etc. This review comprehensively summarizes novel alkaloids produced by marine Streptomyces discovered in the past decade, focusing on their structural features, biological activity and pharmacological mechanisms. Future perspectives on the discovery and development of novel alkaloids from marine Streptomyces are also provided.

Nudibranchs are marine gastropod mollusks that have been extensively studied for their poten-tial to yield new bioactive compounds. This review aims to share data about the chemical and biological activity of extracts and isolated compounds from nudibranchs. The systematic review followed the PRISMA (a systematic review protocol) and covers the studies from the literature published from January 1950 to September 2023, and various scientific databases, including Elsevier, web of science, ACS publications, Taylor and Francis, Wiley Online Library, MDPI, Springer and the Marine Pharmacology website. The results presented are based on the complete set of studies that met our inclusion criteria. Among the selected studies, chemical characteriza-tion was the focus in 79.6% of cases, while biological activity assessment accounted for 20.4%. Ten different types of biological activity assays were performed, with the most frequently studied activities being cytotoxicity (43.6%), antimycobacterial (43.6%), and ichthyotoxic (9.8%) effects. Most positive results obtained from these assays were related to antimycobacterial, cytotoxicity, and ichthyotoxic activities. Eight different types of metabolites were identified, with terpenes be-ing the most prevalent (78.5% of articles), followed by alkaloids (8.1%) and aromatic polyketides (4.7%). Gathering the existing evidence can aid in identifying research gaps and planning future investigations. Our findings indicate that certain nudibranch families, such as Cadlinidae, have received limited attention in terms of studies conducted, yet show promising results in terms of biological activities.

The cosmetic industry has a history of constant modernization, with products that are increasingly sustainable and well tolerated by the customers. In the last years, the growing understanding and knowledge of the potential of marine species, as well as the application of “blue biotechnology” have been motivating new innovative solutions in this area. Marine organisms are important sources of compounds that may be applicable in cosmetics, with biological activities that include depigmentant, anti-aging or anti-bacterial properties, specifically against acne, but also as formulation promoters and facilitators. Several methods can be used to extract these molecules, but these are not free of challenges and implications – possible biological and chemical contamination, and problems with batch reproducibility, which can be associated to the intraspecific variability of the different specimens, should be considered. Alongside these, the legislative and normative framework is increasingly developed and there is a growing concern with this situation. The application of sustainability fundamentals in the production of cosmetics must respect a life cycle approach, critically analyzing each stage. In this sense, “blue biotechnology”, in constant evolution, together with the use of invasive species or marine waste products to obtain new active ingredients, emerge as innovative and sustainable solutions for the future’s cosmetics industry. This review explores various biological properties of marine-derived molecules and discusses the challenges and implications associated with extracting these compounds. It also examines recent advancements in 'blue biotechnology' and their relevance to the sustainable development of innovative cosmetics.

The analysis of the 2002 Prestige tanker accident showed how public misinformation can worsen marine pollution incidents, rendering their management suboptimal as these evolve, raising thus the issue of appropriately informing and educating coastal and island populations at risk. Two decades later, developments in electronic platforms, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), in Automatic Identification System (AIS) for ship signal transmission, and in social media, provide a set of means for public monitoring of such incidents, creating the possibility to antagonize effec-tively erroneous, or malevolent information which can hinder efficient actions for containing ma-rine pollution risks even without active training of populations concerned. The authors, in the framework of development of the Marine Coastal Observatory and Risk Management project “AEGIS+”, have developed E-S.A.V.E., an online platform which: a) meets the needs of different users as revealed by a survey run across groups of them, b) uses a suitable Geographic Infor-mation Systems (GIS) environment, c) cooperates with public authorities, for the reliable update of automated systems, and d) employs an artificial intelligence (AI) supported tool for social me-dia monitoring; the platform also provides educational and information national and interna-tional resources on marine environmental protection and sustainable maritime logistics.

In order to sustain the marine environment relationship between the environmental factors and marine biota must be investigated. This study aims to study such a correlation in the adjacent waters of Nan Wan Bay, Kenting, Taiwan, and to explore the covariance of environmental factors on marine life (whether they enhance or diminish it). To achieve these objectives, factor analysis was used to identify potential latent variables that could affect the water quality of the adjacent waters, including phytoplankton (quantity), zooplankton (quantity), and fish (quantity and species). These potential variables were named based on the results of past studies and related literature. Finally, a structural equation model (SEM) was constructed to establish a marine ecological model among the potential variables. The factor analysis results revealed that nutrients, upwelling, and primary productivity are the primary factors affecting the environmental changes in the adjacent waters of Nan Wan Bay. The comprehensive SEM showed that nutrients and primary productivity significantly impact plankton. Path analysis indicated that primary productivity has the highest direct effect on the phytoplankton cluster. However, the upwelling has a low significance in its effect on phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish clusters. Compared to the results of past related studies, the SEM proposed in this study can reflect a considerable degree of change in the waters.

This study presents the developments regarding the time-domain-induced polarisation method, as a supporting tool for resistivity soundings during investigations of coastal detrital aquifers that are salinised by marine intrusion. The interpretation of resistivity measurements in such aquifers, which have variable hydrochemistry and lithology, involves uncertainties owing to the presence of low-resistivity lithologies, such as clays. To reduce these uncertainties, the use of other geophysical parameters is necessary; hence, this study focuses on induced polarisation, since it can be measured simultaneously with resistivity. In detail, we propose the determination of induced polarisation using 1D techniques, while developing a different algorithm for processing the induced polarisation data. The aim is to extend the results of this phenomenon, using instead of chargeability, the concepts of polarisability and decay time, which are extracted from the decay curve, given that they represent more intrinsic properties of the various analysed subsurface media. We present results obtained by applying this methodology to a Quaternary aquifer of the Costa del Sol in the SE Iberian Peninsula (in the province of Almería) during two different campaigns, one before and one after winter (i.e., in October and February, respectively). The results reveal the position of the saline front during each campaign, while reflecting the seasonal movement of the marine intrusion.

Polysaccharides from marine algae exhibit beneficial biological activities. In this study, we examined the effect of polysaccharides from Codium fragile (PCF) on prebiotic and anti-obesity activity. PCF increases the growth of specific beneficial microbial populations with concomitant decrease in pathogenic microbes. Further, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and DPPH radical scavenging activity (DPPH activity) after fermentation with PCF as carbon source were higher than for the glucose as control. Moreover, PCF inhibited adipocyte differentiation by inducing differentiation-related factors when the induction of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes into adipocytes was induced. Therefore, we suggest that PCF can be used as prebiotic material with anti-obesity for human health.

Every petroleum processing industry produces sewage sludge containing several types of poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) components. The degradation of PAH components by physical, biological and chemical methods is not efficient. The use of marine sponge symbiont bacteria is considered an alternative method in the degradation and reduction of PAHs com-pared to the previous method. This study aims to explore the potential and performance of a consortium of sponge symbiont bacteria in degrading anthracene and pyrene. There are three types of bacteria (Bacillus pumilus strain GLB197, Pseudomonas stutzeri strain SLG510A3-8, Acineto-bacter calcoaceticus strain SLCDA 976) were mixed to form a consortium. The interaction between the bacterial consortium suspension and PAH components was measured at 5-day intervals for 25 days. The biodegradation performance of bacteria on PAHs samples was determined based on five biodegradation parameters. The analysis results showed a decrease in the concentration of anthracene (21.89%) and pyrene (7.71%), equivalent to a ratio of 3: 1. The data was followed by a decrease in the abundance of anthracene (60.30%) and pyrene (27.52%), an equivalent ratio of 2: 1. The level of degradation of the pyrene component is lower than that of the anthracene compo-nent, presumably due to the higher toxicity of pyrene and the more stable molecular structure, making it difficult for bacterial cells to destroy it. The biodegradation products are organic compounds of alcohol, aldehyde, carboxylic acids and a small proportion of aromatic hydrocarbon components. Keywords: performance; biodegradation; bacterial consortium; marine sponge; PAHs

In recent years, demand for consumption of marine foods, and especially fish, has substantially increased worldwide. The majority of collagen available is sourced from mammalian-derived products. Although fish derived gelatine is a viable alternative to mammalian sourced gelatine, there are some challenges related to the use of fish gelatine including odour, colour, gelling and film forming properties as well as consistency in gelatine amino acid composition. Chemicals used for pre-treatment, as well as extraction conditions such as temperature and time, can influence the length of polypeptide chains that result and the functional properties of the gelatine. Compared to mammalian sources, gelatines derived from fish show notable differences in physical and chemical properties, and great care should be paid to optimization of the production process in order to obtain a product with the best properties for intended applications. The focus of this review is to explore the feasibility of producing gelatine sourced from marine processing by-products using different pre-treatment and extraction strategies with the aim of improving the techno-functional properties of the final product and improving the clean-label status of gelatines. The bioactivities of gelatine hydrolysates are also discussed.

In recent years, demand for consumption of marine foods, and especially fish, has substantially increased worldwide. The majority of collagen available is sourced from mammalian-derived products. Although fish derived gelatine is a viable alternative to mammalian sourced gelatine, there are some challenges related to the use of fish gelatine including odour, colour, gelling and film forming properties as well as consistency in gelatine amino acid composition. Chemicals used for pre-treatment, as well as extraction conditions such as temperature and time, can influence the length of polypeptide chains that result and the functional properties of the gelatine. Compared to mammalian sources, gelatines derived from fish show notable differences in physical and chemical properties, and great care should be paid to optimization of the production process in order to obtain a product with the best properties for intended applications. The focus of this review is to explore the feasibility of producing gelatine sourced from marine processing by-products using different pre-treatment and extraction strategies with the aim of improving the techno-functional properties of the final product and improving the clean-label status of gelatines. The bioactivities of gelatine hydrolysates are also discussed.

The article focuses on the integrated environmental accounting model called 'eValue', developed for protected areas and applied in the research programme coordinated by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and aimed at implementing an environmental accounting system for Italian Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). eValue adopts a cost-benefit analysis approach. Financial accounting based on costs and revenues is integrated with environmental accounting, which reflects environmental costs and environmental revenues, i.e. environmental benefits. The environ-mental costs assess the impacts related to human activities in the MPA expressed by calculating the carbon footprint and the environmental benefits of the marine ecosystem services calculated by applying monetary valuation techniques. The values thus estimated flow into the annual flow account, where the value produced (or consumed) by the MPA is estimated by difference. The eValue model was applied to the Porto Cesareo MPA (Italy). eValue showed that the annual benefit-cost ratio reaches a value of 3.4. Furthermore, the ratio of net benefit to public funding is 3.7, completely covering the amount of public transfers and thus summarizing the MPA overall value for money.

Rather high speed of modern water bikes that they develop using only human muscle power increases their popularity. For example, the maximum speed of prototypes reaches the value 3 m/s. Similar vehicles can be used not only for recreation and fitness, but also for transportation. To increase their speed and tonnage, we recommend improving the pontoon shape and using electrical power. The total drag and maximal speeds of the vehicles with the human muscle and electrical power are estimated. Expected success in improving the pontoon shape opens wide prospects for the use of these special shaped hulls in shipbuilding.

In the framework of maritime surveillance, vessel detection techniques based on spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images have promoted extensive applications for the effective understanding of unlawful activities at sea. The paper deal with this topic presenting a novel approach exploiting a cascade application of a pre-screening, and discrimination phase. The latter leverage the SAR spectrum by means of sub-looks analysis. For the first time, the method has been validated with experiments on multi-frequency (C-, X-, and L-band) SAR images. For a future syngergic exploitation of more SAR missions, the developed dataset, composed of Sentinel-1, SAOCOM and COSMO-SkyMed images, is comprehensive of multiple images gathered over the same area with short time lag (below 15 minutes). Finally, the diversified processing chains and the results for each mission product and scenarios are discussed. Being the first dataset of SLC (Single Look Complex) SAR multi-frequency data, the present work intends to encourage additional research in this promising field of research.

The use of digital twins for the development of Autonomous Maritime Surface Vessels (AMSVs) has enormous potential to resolve the increasing need for water-based navigation and safety at the seas. Aiming at the problem of lack of broad and integrated digital twin implementations with live data along with the absence of a digital twin-driven framework for AMSV design and development, an application framework for the development of a fully autonomous vessel using an integrated digital twin in a 3D simulation environment has been presented. Our framework has four layers to ensure that the simulation and the real-world boat as well as the environment are as close as possible. Åboat, an experimental research platform for maritime automation and autonomous surface ship applications, equipped with two trolling electric motors, cameras, LiDARs, IMU and GPS has been used as the case study to provide a proof of concept. Åboat and its sensors, alongwith the environment have been replicated in a 3D simulation environment. Using the proposed application framework, we develop obstacle detection and path planning systems based on machine learning which leverage live data from a 3D simulation environment to mirror the complex dynamics of the real world.

Maritime Continent (MC) positions in between Asian and Australian summer monsoons zone. Its complex topography and shallow seas around it is a major challenge for the climate researchers to model and understand it. Monsoon in this area is affected by inter-scale ocean-atmospheric interactions like El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and Madden-Julian Oscillation. Monsoon rainfall in MC (especially in Indonesia and Malaysia) profoundly exhibits its variability dependency on ocean-atmospheric phenomena in this region. This monsoon shift often introduces to dreadful events like biomass burning (BB) in Southeast Asia (SEA) which sometimes leads to severe trans-boundary haze pollution. In this study, the episode of BB in 2015 of SEA is highlighted and discussed. Observational satellite datasets are tested by performing simulations with numerical weather prediction (NWP) model using WRF-ARW (Advanced research WRF). Observed and model datasets are compared to study the sea surface temperature (SST) and precipitation (rainfall) anomalies influenced by ENSO, IOD and MJO. Correlations have been recognised which explains the delayed rainfall of regular monsoon in MC due to the influence of ENSO, IOD and MJO during 2015 BB episode, eventually leading to intensification of fire and severe haze.

The environmental and social sustainability of seafood is jeopardized by rampant illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Regulations implemented by fishing countries and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations are insufficient to combat illegal fishing; complementary efforts from the consumer end of the supply chain are essential. Despite the growing reliance on imported seafood globally, only four market states have implemented legislation to regulate the legality of seafood products from other countries. We provide an overview of the existing import regulations to address the widespread confusion about the structure and scope of these measures. We propose eight key design criteria for more effective seafood import policies, emphasizing the need for a centralized, fully electronic catch documentation and import monitoring system with automated fraud checks and a broad scope of species covered. The Australian government is currently developing its new seafood import policy and has the opportunity to design a world-leading system that encourages multilateral cooperation to help combat illegal fishing. Through the implementation of import regulations that address key flaws in existing frameworks, market states like Australia can foster a more cohesive and effective front against illegally sourced seafood, improving the sustainability of global fisheries.

Seafood, especially from the ocean, is now seen as a greener and more sustainable source of protein causing an increase in its demand. This has also led to people making choices towards seafood as a replacement of carbon intensive protein sources. As a result, the demand for seafood is growing, and the Aquaculture industry is required to increase their produce while keeping the produce safe and sustainable. There are many challenges faced by the aquaculture industry in meeting these increased demands. One such challenge is the presence of harmful algal blooms (HAB) in the ocean which can have a major impact on aquatic life. In this paper we look at the impact of this challenge on aquaculture and the mitigating strategies. We will focus on Abagold Limited, a land-based marine aquaculture business that specializes in large scale production of abalone (Haliotis midae) based in Hermanus, South Africa. HABs are considered a threat to commercial scale abalone farming along the South-African coastline and requires continuous monitoring. The most recent HAB was in February-April 2019, the area experienced a severe red-tide event with blooms of predominantly Lingulodinium polyedrum. We present some of the mitigation strategies employing digital technologies for future proofing the industry.

Hyperlipidemia (HLP) is a metabolic disease caused by abnormal lipid metabolism. Recently, the prevalence of HLP caused by poor dietary habits in the population has been increasing yearly. In addition, the current clinical use of lipid-lowering drugs has significant ameliorating effects on lipid levels but these actions are accompanied by certain side effects. However, bioactive marine substances have been verified to have various physiological activities such as hypoglycemic, antioxidant, antithrombotic, and effects on blood pressure. Therefore, marine biological sources of hypolipidemic active substances have attracted much attention. Moreover, some of the identified active substances have been found to induce hypolipidemia by inhibiting cholesterol synthesis and absorption, or by improving the composition of intestinal microorganisms. This article introduces the sources and classification of marine-derived hypolipidemic active substances, and describes current progress in research on the main mechanism of the hypolipidemic activity of these substances.

Three new cembranoids (1–3) and a new casbanoid (4), along with three known analogues (5–7), have been isolated from the soft coral Sinularia nanolobata collected off Ximao Island. The structures including the absolute configurations of new compounds were established by extensive spectro-scopic data analysis, time-dependent density functional theory/electronic circular dichroism (TDDFT-ECD) calculations and the comparison with spectroscopic data of known compounds. In in vitro bioassay, compounds 1 and 5 exhibited moderate cytotoxic activities against human erythroleukemia (HEL) cells line with IC50 values of 37.1 and 42.4 uM, respectively.

Chlorophyll-a (Chla) is a crucial pigment in phytoplankton, playing a vital role in determining phytoplankton biomass and water nutrient status. However, in optically complex water bodies, Chla concentration is no longer the primary factor influencing remote sensing spectral reflectance signals, leading to significant errors in traditional Chla concentration estimation methods. With advancements in in-situ measurements, synchronized satellite data, and computer technology, machine learning algorithms have become popular in Chla concentration retrieval. Nevertheless, when using machine learning methods to estimate Chla concentration, abrupt changes in Chla values can disrupt the spatiotemporal smoothness of the retrieval results. Therefore, this study proposes a two-stage approach to enhance the accuracy of Chla concentration estimation in optically complex water bodies. In the first stage, a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1DCNN) is employed for precise Chla retrieval, and in the second stage, the regression layer of the 1DCNN is replaced with Support Vector Regression (SVR). The research findings are as follows: (1) In the first stage, the performance metrics (R², RMSE, RMLSE, Bias, MAE) of the 1DCNN outperform state-of-the-art algorithms (OCI, SVR, RFR) on the test dataset. (2) After the second stage, the performance further improves, with the metrics achieving values of 0.892, 11.243, 0.052, 1.056, and 1.444, respectively. (3) In mid-to-high latitude regions, the inversion performance of 1DCNN\SVR is superior to other algorithms, exhibiting richer details and higher noise tolerance in nearshore areas. (4) 1DCNN\SVR demonstrates high inversion capabilities in water bodies with medium to high nutrient levels.

Krill oil (KO) shows promise as a natural marine-derived ingredient for improving skin health. This study investigated its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-wrinkle, and moisturizing effects on skin cells and UVB-induced skin photoaging in hairless mice. In vitro assays on HDF, HaCaT, and B16/F10 cells, and in vivo experiments on 66 hairless mice, were conducted. Mice received oral KO administration (100, 200, or 400 mg/kg) once a day for 15 weeks and UVB radiation three times a week. In vitro, KO significantly countered UVB-induced oxidative stress, reduced wrinkles, and prevented skin water loss by enhancing collagen and hyaluronic synthesis. In vivo, all KO dosages showed dose-dependent inhibition of oxidative stress-induced inflammatory photoaging-related skin changes. Skin mRNA expressions for hyaluronan synthesis and collagen synthesis genes also increased dose-dependently after KO treatment. Histopathological analysis confirmed that Krill Oil (KO) ameliorated the damage caused by UVB-irradiated skin tissues. These findings suggest that KO may be a valuable intervention to mitigate UVB-induced skin photoaging and address various skin concerns.

The paper deals with applying Artificial Intelligence techniques to examine CHIRP-recorded data in sand and sandstone sea-bottom sites. The provided analysis of the state of the art portrays that actual time series or spectrum backscattered data from a point on the sea bottom were rarely used as the features for machine learning models. The results of the examination indicate that types of sea bottom can be quantitatively characterized by applying logistic regression models to either the backscatter time series of a frequency-modulated signal or the spectrum of that backscatter. The examination accuracy reached 90% for the time series and 94% for the spectra. The application of spectral data as features for more advanced machine learning algorithms, and the advantages of its combination with other types of data have great potential for future research and the enhancement of remote marine soil classification.

The intense emergence of mucilage in the Marmara Sea in 2021 has raised concerns due to its potential impact on the global marine system. Considering the potential of mucilage threatening the diverse ecosystems, it is important to define the mucilage microbiome. However, studies dedicated to exploring the biodiversity of mucilage are limited and de novo approaches are needed to understand unexplored biodiversity of mucilage microenvironment. This study aimed to investigate mucilage and water samples from certain stations in Marmara Sea. For this reason, 11 mucilage, 2 pre-mucilage water and 3 clean sea water were collected from 16 stations. DNA isolation, shotgun metagenome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were performed. It was revealed that the mucilage microbiome and the clean water microbiome were different from each other, and the reads that could not be assigned to any taxon (dark matter) accounted for 58% (p=0.014) of the mucilage metagenome. The clean water had a higher presence of Euryarchaeota (p=0.014), Proteobacteria (p=0.019) and Rhodothermaeota (p=0.034), while Chlamydiae (p=0.014) and Fusobacteria (p=0.034) were found in excess in the mucilage. The study produced the first comparative data on clean sea water and the mucilage microbiome using shotgun metagenomics approaches.

Toxic materials in waste generally contain several components of global trending pollutant categories, especially PAHs and heavy metals. Bioremediation technology for managing waste utilizing microorganisms (bacteria) has not been fully capable of breaking down these toxic materials simple and environmentally friendly chemical products. This study examines the potential application of a marine sponge symbiont consortium with high performance and efficiency in removing PAHs and heavy metal contaminants. The method is carried out through a review of some related research articles by the author and published by other re-searchers. The study results concluded that bioremediation technology development GTP, can be carried out to improve remediation efficiency. Several types of marine sponge symbiont bacteria, hydrocarbonoclastic (R-1), metalloclastic (R-2), and metallohydro-carbonoclastic (R-3), have the potential to be applied to improve the removal performance of waste. Bacterial screening be done to find and categorize R-1 bacteria, R-2; R-3 to remediate GTP. Develop of R-1 bacteria, R-2; R-3 forms of the mobile formulation are needed in the future. A crystalline consortium of bacteria preparations is needed so that they can be quickly mobilized to locations exposed to GTP. Marine sponge symbiont bacteria be traced mainly to marine sponges whose body surface is covered with mucus.

PAHs contaminants have toxic, carcinogenic, and even mutagenic properties. Screening bacteria from different sources capable of carrying out the biodegradation of PAHs is important for mapping and mobilization purposes and applying them to polluted hydrocarbon environments. The study aimed to compare the biodegradation power of two types of bacteria isolated from different sources against PAHs. The method applied is the interaction between bacterial suspen-sion and pyrene contaminated waste for 30 days. Biodegradation products in organic compounds were analyzed using GC/MS and FTIR. The analysis results found several indications of the performance of bacterial biodegradation, namely: the aggressiveness of biodegradation of Bl bacteria against pyrene was relatively more dominant than Sb bacteria. The percentage of to-tal bacterial biodegradation for product type Sb was (39.00 %), and that of the product of bacteri-al degradation type Bl (was 38.29 %). The biodegradation products of the test bacteria (Bl and Sb) were relatively similar to pyrene, in the form of alcohol and carboxylic acid organic com-pounds. It was concluded that there was no significant difference in biodegradation per-formance between Bl and Sb bacteria on for pyrene. Both types of bacterial isolates from differ-ent sources can carry out the function of biodegradation of pyrene.

Cancer is one of the health concerns in modern societies. The application of nanotechnology in medical sciences has created new possibilities for the diagnosis, imaging and the treatment of tumors in humans. The present article reviews the application of marine-based gold nanoparticles in diagnosing and treating cancer. The main data were collected from research article on the application of different marine-based gold nanoparticles in detecting and imaging cancer cells as well as in drug delivery system in treatment of cancer. Chitosan is the most used marine natural compound used to fabricate gold nanocomposites and the most reported application of this type of nano-composites is related to drug delivery system. Despite the excellent anticancer potential of different marine natural products, less studies have been conducted on the use of their compositions with gold nanoparticles in cancer therapy than other materials. Moreover, most reports available in this filed are related to their application as a drug delivery system not anticancer drug. In general, there are still challenges and limitations to the use of nanoparticles in medicine, it is hoped that in the near future nanoparticles will create a dramatic revolution not only in oncology but also in medicine.

Coronaviruses are pathogens recognized for having an animal origin, commonly associated with terrestrial environments. However, although in a few cases, there are reports of their presence in aquatic organisms like fish, frogs, waterfowls and marine mammals. None of these cases has led to human health effects when contact with these infected organisms has taken place, whether they are alive or dead. Aquatic birds seem to be the main group carrying and circulating these types of viruses among healthy bird populations. Although the route of infection for CoVID-19 by water or aquatic organisms has not yet been observed in the wild, the relevance of its study is highlighted because there are cases of other viral infections known to have been transferred to humans by aquatic biota. It is encouraging to know that aquatic species, such as fish, marine mammals, and amphibians, shows very few cases of coronaviruses and that some other aquatic animals may also be a possible source of cure or treatment against then, as some evidence with algae and marine sponges suggest.

The remediation of dredged marine sediments contaminated by heavy metals has drawn increasing attention worldly. The immobilization was regarded as a promising method to reduce adverse impacts on marine ecosystem. In this study, kaolinite and limestone were used as amendments to immobilize heavy metals (e.g. Zn, Pb and Cu) respectively in dredged marine sediments collected from the coastal zone adjacent to Tianjin Port in Bohai Bay. The sequential extraction procedure was applied to identify the mobility of heavy metals and further to evaluate the immobilization effect of amendments. The physical-chemical properties of sediments, such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), salinity, and total organic carbon (TOC), were also measured to better understand their influence on heavy metals’ mobility. In addition, the compositions of clay minerals were also analyzed to identify the transformation process of minerals in the sediments. The results of sequential extraction procedure indicated that mobile fractions of heavy metals were converted into relatively stable fractions because of the two amendments. In addition, EC, salinity and TOC decreased moderately while no obvious variations of pH in the sediments were observed with the addition of the the kaolinite and the limestone. The percentage of montmorillonite decreased to minimum value while that of chlorite increased gradually during the experimental periods for 40 days probably due to complexation reaction. It was confirmed that both kaolinite and limestone can effectively reduce the mobility and bioavailability of heavy metals, particularly for Zn, generally, limestone has a better immobilization effect compared with kaolinite.

Nematode biodiversity is mostly unknown; while about 20,000 nematode species have been described, estimates for species diversity range from 0.1 to 100 million. The study of nematode diversity, like that of meiofaunal organisms in general, has been mostly based on morphology-based taxonomy, a time-consuming and costly task that requires well-trained specialists. This work represents the first on the taxonomy of Mexican nematodes to integrate morphological and molecular data. We add seven new morphological records for the Mexican Caribbean: Anticomid sp1, Cylicolaimus sp1, Oncholaimus sp2, Platycoma sp1, Catanema sp1, Enopliodes spp., and Metachromadora spp. We recover 55 COI sequences that represent 20 species. Of the studied sites, Cozumel had 12 species and Cancún had two species (Rhips sp1 and Monoposthia mirabilis) represented by several individuals. All sequences are new for the genetic international databases GenBank and BOLD. Phylogenetic analyses and species delineation methods support the occurrence of the 20 entities and confirm the high resolution of COI sequences in delimiting species. ABGD and mPTP methods disentangled 20 entities, whereas Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) recovered 22 genetic species. DNA taxonomy was demonstrated to be an efficient, fast, and low-cost method to address a taxonomical shortfall of meiofaunal organisms.

Coastal areas in the South Coast of West Java Province have the potential to develop marine ecotourism, one of which is the Pangandaran area which must be transferred into economic value by not damaging natural resources. Marine ecotourism development is not only intended to raise foreign exchange for local governments, but are also expected to play a role in maintaining natural resources sustainably. This research aims to analyze the sustainable synergistic marine ecotourism development model. The method used in this research using quantitative descriptive method. The Quantitative descriptive method is used to describe the general condition of the research area, using primary and secondary data. The technique of taking respondents using accidental sampling as many as 50 respondents consisting of tourists, public figures, fishermen who have side jobs as a provider of marine ecotourism services. The analysis tool used is through a Rapfish model approach to measuring the synergistic model of sustainable development of marine ecotourism. Based on the results of a research on a sustainable synergistic marine ecotourism development model by measuring the ecological dimensions of environmental services in high conditions, the economic dimension of marine ecotourism is in moderate condition. Marine ecotourism technology in low conditions and social dimensions of marine ecotourism in low conditions. Model development of sustainable marine ecotourism synergistic with regard to the dimension of environmental, economic and social institutions should be able to form integrated from infrastructure to support marine ecotourism up to raise the level of income of fishermen who have a second job as a marine ecotourism providers. The infrastructure and regulatory dimensions are recommended to use the technology information to promote marine ecotourism optimally and regulations need to make marine ecotourism zoning rules and infrastructure improvements.

Marine algae have been considered as abundant source of bioactive compounds with cosmeceutical potential. Recently, a great deal of interest has focused on the health-promoting effects of marine bioactive compounds. Carbohydrate is a major and abundant constitute of marine algae that have been utilized in cosmetic formulations, such as moisturizing and thickening agents. In addition, marine carbohydrates have been suggested as promising bioactive biomaterials for various skin beneficial properties, such as anti-oxidant, anti-melanogenic and anti-skin aging. Therefore, marine algae carbohydrates have potential of skin health benefits for value-added cosmeceutical application. The present review focused on the various biological capacities and potential skin health benefits of bioactive marine carbohydrates.

This paper presents performed Ansys numerical simulation on WindFloat structures. It contributes to the methodology of calculation based on CFD instruments to study the movements of the waves on semi-submersible stationary structures and highlights the importance of using RAO functions. RAO numerical approach developed can be applied to design semisubmersible WindFloat structures in order to fulfill essential requirements regarding operational safety and design. Numerical methodology was designed in accordance marine loads and the I.T.T.C. recommendations. The numerical RAO results for regular wave movements include many elements for the semi-submergible structure. Close results to open sea operation can be achieved by constant improvement in numerical simulation methodologies. The work opens the way for further hydrodynamic development on irregular waves for realistic hydrodynamic and structural response of the actual semi-submersibles at sea. The results demonstrate the accuracy of RAO function approach for specific WindFloat in Jonswap spectrum.

Aquaculture is growing ever more important due to the decrease in natural marine resources and increase inworldwide demand. To avoid losses due to aging and abnormalweather, it is important to predict seawater temperature in order to maintain a more stable supply, particularly for high value added products, such as pearls and scallops. The increase in species extinction is a prominent societal issue. Furthermore, in order to maintain a stable quality of farmed fishery, water temperature should be measured daily and farming methods altered according to seasonal stresses. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to estimate seawater temperature in marine aquaculture by combining seawater temperature data and actual weather data.

The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) has opened up exciting possibilities for new applications. One such novel application is the modernization of maritime communications. Effective maritime communication is vital for ensuring the safety of crew members, vessels, and cargo. The maritime industry is responsible for the transportation of a significant portion of global trade, and as such, the efficient and secure transfer of information is essential to maintain the flow of goods and services. With the increasing complexity of maritime operations, technological advancements such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and the Internet of Ships (IoS) have been introduced to enhance communication and operational efficiency. However, these technologies also bring new challenges in terms of security and network management. Compromised IT systems, with escalated privileges, can potentially enable easy and ready access to operational technology (OT) systems and networks with the same privileges, with an increased risk of zero-day attacks. In this paper, we first provide a review of the current state and modalities of maritime communications. We then review the current adoption of Software-Defined Radios (SDRs) and Software-Defined Networks (SDNs) in the maritime industry and evaluate their impact, as IoT enablers, on the future of maritime industry operations, safety, and security.

Chagas disease is a Neglected Tropical Disease with limited and ineffective therapy. In a search for new antitrypanosomal compounds, we investigated the potential of metabolites from bacteria living in corals and sediments of the Southeastern Brazilian coast. Three corals Tubastraea coccinea, Mussismilia hispida, Madracis decactis and sediments yielded 11 bacterial strains, that were fully identified by MALDI-ToF/MS or gene sequencing, resulting in six genera - Vibrio, Shewanella, Mesoflavibacter, Halomonas, Bacillus and Alteromonas. To conduct this study, EtOAc extracts were prepared and tested against Trypanosoma cruzi. Crude extracts showed IC50 values ranging from 15 to 51 μg/mL against trypomastigotes. The bacterium Mesoflavibacter zeaxanthinifaciens was selected for fractionation, resulting in an active fraction (FII) with IC50 values of 17.7 μg/mL and 23.8 μg/mL against the trypomastigotes and amastigotes, respectively, with neither mammalian cytotoxicity nor hemolytic activity. Using NMR and ESI-HRMS analysis, FII revealed the presence of unsaturated iso-type fatty acids. Its lethal action was investigated, leading to a protein spectral profile of the parasite altered after treatment. FII also induced a rapid permeabilization of the plasma membrane of the parasite, leading to cell death. These findings demonstrate these unsaturated iso-type fatty acids as possible new hits against T. cruzi.

Lathyrane-type diterpenes have a wide range of biological activities. Among them, euphoboetirane A (1) exerts neurogenesis-promoting activity. In order to increase the structural diversity of this type of lathyranes to explore their potential use in neurodegenerative disorders, the biotransformation of 1 by Streptomyces puniceus BC-5GB.11 has been investigated. The strain BC-5GB.11, isolated from surface sediments collected from the intertidal zone of the inner Bay of Cadiz, was identified as Streptomyces puniceus, as determined by phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequence. Biotransformation of 1 by BC-5GB.11 afforded five products (3-7), all of them reported here for the first time. The main biotransformation pathways involved regioselective oxidation at non-activated carbons (3-5) and isomerization of the D^12,13 double bond (6). In addition, a cyclopropane-rearranged compound was found (7). The structures of all compounds were elucidated on the basis of extensive NMR and HRESIMS spectroscopic studies.

Floating wind is becoming an essential part in terms of renewable energy. Therefore, highlighting the perspectives in developing the floating wind platforms is very important. In this paper, we focus on floating wind concepts and projects around the world. This will give a taste to the reader about what is going on in terms of the projects around the world. The main aim of this work is to further explain the collected data regarding the floating wind concepts and projects, and further classify them in terms of cost, power capacity, wind speed, water depth, and distance to shore.

Sunscreens are topical preparations containing one or more compounds that protect humans from ultraviolet (UV) light. This review focuses on analytical methods, particularly liquid chromatography, aimed at identifying and determining UV filters (UVFs) in environmental and marine biota matrices. A literature review was done using NIH (PubMed and Medline), FDA and EPA databases, Google Scholar, and Federal Regulations. This retrospective literature review is focused on the last five years. UVFs quantification in environmental and biological matrices showed a wide array of methods where liquid chromatography is predominant. The scientific literature identified a large variety of analytical methodologies that are compared in this review, to evaluate the better results in terms of limits of quantification and the possibility to identify as many analytes as possible simultaneously.

Plastic poses a significant threat to the environment, polluting land, water, and air. It is a broad term encompassing a variety of polymers. In the form of microplastics and nanoplastics, it can induce toxicity in water bodies. Plastic debris not only physically pollutes freshwater, but also chemically, undergoing changes over time due to hydroclimatic effects. Rivers serve as conduits, transporting plastics from minor tributaries to major rivers and ultimately into the ocean, endangering marine life. India, as a developing country with the largest population and numerous rivers, generates a significant amount of plastic waste, a substantial portion of which finds its way into rivers, leading to alarming rates of plastic accumulation in the ocean. Previously, policymakers focused primarily on landfills for plastic waste, neglecting the pollution of water bodies. The consequences of this neglect are evident, with major rivers in the country severely affected by plastic waste, necessitating advanced, efficient, and sustainable solutions. This study aims to establish a comprehensive framework for managing plastic waste, understanding its transport mechanisms to the ocean, and recognizing the threats it poses to life. It also expounds on harmful plastic pollutants in water, globally adopted technologies, and emphasizes the need for further research and data collection in this field. The primary concluding point is to prevent plastics from entering waterways and to actively collect river and marine plastic pollution. Banning single-use plastics and implementing efficient collection methods are crucial in containing plastic pollution. Effluents from industries should not be overlooked, as they often contain harmful micro and nanoplastics with ecotoxicological effects. The innovative concept of the "4Rs" - Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle - stands as the cornerstone for safeguarding the environment against plastic pollution.

The cosmetic industry recognizes the importance of natural sources for functional active constit-uents in meeting consumer expectations for safer and more sustainable beauty care products. Ma-rine macroalgae have emerged as promising resources, offering diverse bioactive constituents with potential applications in cosmetics. In this study, we investigated the biochemical profile of Padina boergesenii, a marine macroalga, using various methods to assess its potential as a cosmetic ingre-dient. The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis revealed the presence of distinct bioactive functional groups associated with numerous skin-beneficial compounds. Furthermore, the ethanolic and methanolic extracts of P. boergesenii were subjected to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrom-etry (GC-MS) analysis, which identified a total of six and fifteen significant phytocompounds, re-spectively. Additionally, a comprehensive phytochemical profiling of P. boergesenii was performed using High-Resolution Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Quadrupole Time-of-Flight (HRLCMS-Q-TOF), highlighting the presence of various terpenoids, alkaloids, peptides, fatty acids, derivatives, and coumarins with potential cosmetic applications. To further assess its potential as a cosmetic ingredient, P. boergesenii was subjected to several additional estimations. Pigment estima-tion revealed the presence of specific pigments, while the determination of total phenol content and total protein content highlighted the richness of these bioactive components. The antioxidant analysis using the DPPH method demonstrated the antioxidant potential of P. boergesenii extracts, suggesting their ability to combat oxidative stress-related skin damage. Moreover, the tyrosinase inhibition assay indicated the inhibitory effect of P. boergesenii extracts on tyrosinase activity, which is relevant for addressing hyperpigmentation concerns. Furthermore, the elemental composition of P. boergesenii was evaluated using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES), revealing that silicon (Si) exhibited the highest concentration among the measured elements, while copper (Cu) displayed the lowest concentration. Additionally, HRLCMS-Q-TOF analysis was employed to quantify 21 amino acids, with aspartic acid exhibiting the highest con-centration (2034.99 nmol/mL), and tyrosine demonstrating the lowest concentration (233.26 nmol/mL). The accuracy of all the measured elements and amino acids was deemed acceptable. Taken together, the findings of this study highlight the potential of P. boergesenii as an effective ingredient for enhancing skin health. The incorporation of seaweed-based bioactive components, such as P. boergesenii, into cosmetic products is increasingly common due to their beneficial effects on the skin. Further exploration of the potential applications of P. boergesenii in the cosmetics in-dustry is warranted to harness its valuable bioactive properties.

Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, has a coastal area that has marine tourism potential to be developed. It is expected that marine tourism can bring socio-economic impact to the com-munity. This research was conducted with the objective of assessing the suitability of the area to be developed as a marine and coastal tourism site to provide benefits to the coastal community. Hydrodynamic model will be used in this research as coastal area mapping. As an approach, Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP) is utilized whose parameters consist of depth, coast type, coast width, brightness, current speed, water base materials, observation of dangerous biota and availability of fresh water. Based on the overall mapping area of 98,644 ha, the research results show that the area that can be utilized is 7,979 ha with a very suitable category, while there is an area of 1,045 ha which can still be classified in the appropriate category.

Investigation of sea-level positions during the highly-dynamic Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3: 29-61 kyrs BP) proves difficult because: i) in stable and subsiding areas, coeval coastal sediments are currently submerged at depths of few to several tens of meters below present sea level; ii) in uplifting areas, the preservation of geomorphic features and sedimentary records is limited due to the erosion occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) with sea level at depth of -130 m, followed by marine transgression that determined the development of ravinement surfaces. This study discusses previous research in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, and describes new fossiliferous marine deposits laying on metamorphic bedrock of Cannitello (Calabria, Italy). Radiocarbon ages of marine shells (about 43 kyrs cal BP) indicate that these deposits, presently between 28 and 30 meters above sea level, formed during MIS 3.1. Elevation correction of the Cannitello outcrops (considered in an intermediate-to-far-field position with respect to the ice sheet) with the local vertical tectonic rate and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) rate allows to propose a revision of the eustatic depth for this highstand. Our results are consistent with recently proposed estimates based on a novel ice sheet modelling technique.

Marine renewable energy technologies have a great potential in supplying clean electricity to millions of people across the globe, if technical and economic conditions are in right. So far, ocean energy projects are commonly started by SMEs or educational institutions with limited budgets. Therefore, any effort to reduce expenses is of great value. One of the areas involving substantial expenses are the inevitable seabed inspection prior to deployment of marine renewable energy device. Detailed seabed inspections can also reduce the risk of associated with deployment of structures on uneven seabed, especially marine renewable energy devices with gravity foundations. By reducing the costs and risks of such surveys prior and during the installation phases, the feasibility of marine renewable energy projects can be more favoured and competitive. In this perspective, this study proposes a cost and time effective technique for seabed surveys. The proposed technique involves the use of high precision and inexpensive sonar systems and underwater optical cameras integrated into a versatile and compact subsea monitoring platform. It also involves simple and practical data acquisition and processing protocols that do not requires hi expertise for operation. The results obtained showed that high resolution bathymetric maps and detailed seabed inspections imagery can be acquired. This study concludes that a simple and inexpensive subsea monitoring platform comprising a multibeam, dual beam and video cameras can be effective for high resolution seabed inspection and bathymetric measurements for marine energy applications.

Hizikia fusiformis is a common, edible marine alga found in Asia. Although the anticancer activity of its extracts has previously been investigated, its active compounds have not been identified. In this study, saringosterol acetate (SA) was isolated from H. fusiformis extracts by centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) system (two phase solvents condition: n-hexane:ethyl acetate/methanol:water = 5:3:7:1, v/v), exhibited anticancer effects in the human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line, A549, by inducing apoptosis and sub-G1 phase cell cycle arrest. In addition, SA increased the expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins, Bax and cleaved caspase 3, and decreased that of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL. Although, SA did not affect the expression of p53, induces expression of Bid and caspase 8. In conclusion, we suggested that SA induces apoptosis against A549 cells via Bid and caspase 8 dependent pathway.

Rocas Atoll is a unique environment in the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean, hosting a large number of endemic species and studies on the chemical diversity emerging from this biota are rather scarce. Therefore, the present work aims to assess the metabolomic diversity and pharmacological potential of the microbiota from Rocas Atoll. A total of 76 bacteria were isolated and cultured in liquid culture media to obtain crude extracts. About one third (34%) of these extracts were considered cytotoxic against human colon adenocarcinoma HCT-116 cell line. 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis revealed that the bacteria producing cytotoxic extracts are mainly from the Actinobacteria phylum, including Streptomyces, Salinispora, Nocardiopsis and Brevibacterium genera, and in a smaller proportion from Firmicutes phylum (Bacillus). The search in the GNPS spectral library unveiled a high chemodiversity being produced by these bacteria, including rifamycins, antimycins, desferrioxamines, ferrioxamines, surfactins, surugamides, staurosporine and saliniketals, along with several unidentified compounds. Using an original approach, molecular network successfully highlighted groups of compounds responsible for the cytotoxicity of crude extracts. DEREPLICATOR+, a recently developed in silico tool (GNPS), allowed the identification of derivatives of the macrolide novonestimycin, as the cytotoxic compounds into the extracts produced by Streptomyces BRB-298 and BRB-302. Overall, these results highlighted the pharmacological potential of bacteria from this singular Atoll.

The abundance, distribution and composition of marine debris (> 5 cm) and small microplastics (11 μm) from five rivers in South Eastern, Nigeria was investigated. This study provided the first assessment of the type and quantity of marine litter and microplastics in Nigeria. A total of 3487 macrodebris items/m2 were counted with the following distribution; plastics (59 %) > metal (10 %) > cloth (7 %), paper /cardboard (7 %), rubber (7 %) > glass/ceramics (5 %), medical and agro-based waste (3 %) > wood (2 %). The cleanliness of the river assessed with clean coast index (CCI) ranged from “very clean” at Okumpi and Obiaraedu river to “extremely dirty” at Nwangele river. Microplastics abundance ranged from 440 to 1556 particles/L, with high accumulation at downstream. Fragment shape was most abundant while fiber and film followed. The distribution of plastic types was; PET (29 %) > PE (22 %) > PVC (16 %) > PP (14 %) > other (6 %) respectively. Significant relationship was found between the total abundances of microplastics and different macrodebris groups suggesting that microplastics were abundant in areas where the macrodebris abundance was high. Our results provide baseline information for future assessments. Management actions should focus on input prevention including proper waste management, recycling of plastics, and strict penalties for illegal dumping of wastes.

The highly dangerous trend of escalating bacterial resistance to modern antibiotics has evolved in recent decades, with increasingly more drug-resistant strains of pathogens emerging and spreading each year. This poses a threat to not only public health, but also to entire mankind. Marine bioresources, considered as a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics and a valuable source of biologically active compounds with high pharmacological potential, now attract increasing attention of researchers. Modern biotechnology combines the genetic engineering methods and the unusual biosynthetic pathways utilized by marine microorganisms to produce natural antibiotics. The goal of this review is to summarize the latest trends in searching for new natural antimicrobial agents based on secondary metabolites of marine bacteria. The targeted control of biosynthesis mechanisms using the metabolic engineering methods in order to create hybrid peptide synthetases or to obtain hybrid peptides by disrupting the target gene of nonribosomal synthesis becomes a noteworthy trend in modern biotechnology. This pathway is not only one of the most promising approaches to the development of new antibiotics, but also a potential target for controlling the exocrine activity of pathogenic bacteria and, consequently, their viability.

The development and application of marine current energy are attracting more and more attention around the world. Due to the hardness of its working environment, it is important and difficult to study the fault diagnosis of a marine current generation system. In this paper, an underwater image is chosen as the fault-diagnosing signal, after different sensors are compared. This paper proposes a diagnosis method based on the sparse autoencoder (SA) and softmax regression (SR). The SA is used to extract the features and SR is used to classify them. Images are used to monitor whether the blade is attached by benthos and to determine its corresponding degree of attachment. Compared with other methods, the experiment results show that the proposed method can diagnose the blade attachment with higher accuracy.