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Sustainability
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Sustainable Ports and Waterways: Policy, Management and Analysis
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Sustainable Ports and Waterways: Policy, Management and Analysis

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (27 February 2024) | Viewed by 1726

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Wu Xing

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lamar University, Beaumont, MI 77710, USA
Interests: transportation system modeling; big data; transportation
Dr. Maryam Hamidi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, Lamar University, Beaumont, MI 77710, USA
Interests: interactive decision-making, port and waterway operations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Waterway transportation plays a crucial role in supporting the global economy. Compared with other transportation modes, ships have significant advantages in terms of cost, capacity and emissions. For example, in 2020, around 80% of all goods worldwide were transported by sea, mainly by container ships; on the other hand, shipping contributed 825 Mt CO2, which accounted for about 11.4% of global transportation emissions in 2020 and was less than a half of the emissions of heavy trucks in the same year. Waterway transportation is also very complicated, with many aspects involved, such as port operation, the collaboration of different types of transportation modes, etc. The improvement of the sustainability of shipping and port management can largely help reduce emissions and achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.

On the other hand, unlike highway transportation, real navigation data are much easier to obtain for different types of ships, due to the availability of automatic identification systems (AISs), which have been required to be installed in all sea-going vessels since 2000. AIS data provide us with detailed navigation trajectories, including a vessel’s speed, course, longitude, latitude, draft, etc., at consecutive timestamps. With such AIS data, we can easily analyze vessels’ travel behavior, traffic flow, etc. Such information can also help us understand the emissions of vessels.

Compared to the literature on highway transportation, the scientific literature regarding shipping and ports is rather scarce, especially sustainability-related studies. This Special Issue aims to broaden the existing body of knowledge by presenting the latest comprehensive insights and new developments in the field of sustainability of shipping and ports. This Special Issue focuses on topics such as carbon neutrality policies, decarbonization measures and analyses, port infrastructure operation modeling, etc. Submissions can include, but are not strictly limited to, the following topics:

  • Decarbonization strategies for shipping and ports;
  • Carbon neutrality policies related to shipping and port management;
  • Infrastructural developments for ports;
  • Shipping modeling and analysis;
  • Optimization and decision making for port management;

Dr. Wu Xing
Dr. Maryam Hamidi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainability
  • waterway transportation
  • shipping
  • port management

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 2617 KiB  
Article
Tugboat Scheduling Method Based on the NRPER-DDPG Algorithm: An Integrated DDPG Algorithm with Prioritized Experience Replay and Noise Reduction
by Jiachen Li, Xingfeng Duan, Zhennan Xiong and Peng Yao
Sustainability 2024, 16(8), 3379; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16083379 - 17 Apr 2024
Viewed by 463
Abstract
The scheduling of harbor tugboats is a crucial task in port operations, aiming to optimize resource allocation and reduce operational costs, including fuel consumption of tugboats and the time cost of vessels waiting for operations. Due to the complexity of the port environment, [...] Read more.
The scheduling of harbor tugboats is a crucial task in port operations, aiming to optimize resource allocation and reduce operational costs, including fuel consumption of tugboats and the time cost of vessels waiting for operations. Due to the complexity of the port environment, traditional scheduling methods, often based on experience and practice, lack scientific and systematic decision support, making it difficult to cope with real-time changes in vessel dynamics and environmental factors. This often leads to scheduling delays and resource waste. To address this issue, this study proposes a mathematical model based on fuzzy programming, accounting for the uncertainty of the arrival time of target vessels. Additionally, we introduce the NRPER-DDPG algorithm (DDPG Algorithm with Prioritized Experience Replay and Noise Reduction), which combines a prioritized replay mechanism with a decaying noise strategy based on the DDPG algorithm. This approach optimizes the time for tugboats to reach the task location as a continuous action space, aiming to minimize the total system cost and improve scheduling efficiency. To verify the effectiveness of the mathematical model and algorithm, this study conducted experimental validation. Firstly, the optimal algorithm hyperparameter combinations were adjusted through random examples to ensure the stability and reliability of the algorithm. Subsequently, large-scale examples and actual port cases were used to further verify the performance advantages of the algorithm in practical applications. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed mathematical model and algorithm significantly reduce system costs and improve scheduling efficiency, providing new insights and methods for the sustainable development of port operations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Ports and Waterways: Policy, Management and Analysis)
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19 pages, 2080 KiB  
Article
A Qualitative Analysis of Climate Impacts on Egyptian Ports
by Mahmoud Sharaan, Mona G. Ibrahim, Hosam Moubarak, Ahmed Elsayed ElKut, Ahmed A. Romya, Mohamed Hamouda, Akram Soliman and Moheb Iskander
Sustainability 2024, 16(3), 1015; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031015 - 24 Jan 2024
Viewed by 897
Abstract
Ports are vital in the global trading system but are also vulnerable to climate-related threats. This problem has not been widely studied, especially in Egypt. However, there is an urgent need to address climate-related threats to Egyptian ports, which could have significant economic [...] Read more.
Ports are vital in the global trading system but are also vulnerable to climate-related threats. This problem has not been widely studied, especially in Egypt. However, there is an urgent need to address climate-related threats to Egyptian ports, which could have significant economic and trade-related consequences. Therefore, exploring the Egyptian port administrations’ and stakeholders’ perceptions regarding climatic hazards is an urgent and essential matter for sustainable and resilient ports, considering their strategic economic importance. Consequently, this article is the first to examine how the port authorities perceive and respond to climate hazards in one of the most important and largest commercial Egyptian ports; it also explores their adaptation strategies and plans, considering the national agenda to develop the coastal ports respecting the sustainable development pillars, and fills the gaps in regional and national studies on seaports and climatic hazards. The paper focuses on the Great Alexandria Port, which includes the Alexandria and El-Dekheila ports. A questionnaire is designed and distributed in different port sectors for gathering relevant data and conducting interviews, discussions, and workshops. The findings declare obvious concern about developing the Egyptian ports under the national projects umbrella. Also, the port authorities are aware of the risks of climate change and believe some adaptation measures are necessary and could be essential soon. They are taking steps to adapt their ports, considering a specific strategy that includes rehabilitating infrastructure (breakwater and berths), functional facilities, and services, improving drainage systems to enhance their port’s resilience, and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our research findings suggest that there are opportunities for scientists to engage with the port stakeholders to proactively develop plans to alleviate climate change’s effects on their ports. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Ports and Waterways: Policy, Management and Analysis)
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