Pengfei Zhang

The seaworthiness of merchant ships plays a critical role in ensuring the safety of life and property and the prevention of marine pollution. It deals with the fitness and readiness of a ship and its fundamental ability to sail safely to its destination. The standards of seaworthiness extend to literally all aspects of a ship, including the human element, physical structure, documentation, cargo worthiness and so on. It is one of the most complicated concepts in the maritime regulatory regime, and it takes many forms. However, although one of the most important terms in maritime transportation and ship management, seaworthiness is not an absolute concept, but a relative one, dependent on the particular environment, context and facts, and the standards of seaworthiness have changed greatly with the introduction of new maritime regulations over the years. The existing literature on seaworthiness is found within a variety of dedicated articles or book chapters. This book summarizes all that information in one publication and provides an update on key books that are now more than a decade old. In addition, it also offers more detail on specific aspects that are rarely discussed on their own. The reader will gain an understanding of the constituent features which colour its application in sovereign jurisdictions, where each have their own, often conflicting, social or geopolitical priorities to meet. Each chapter relies heavily on case studies to illustrate how the laws which reflect private laws and national policy underpinning those priorities are applied in practice. This structure then enables an understanding of the problems in the carriage of goods by sea, with a view to offering options for solutions. The book is written to meet the needs of lawyers, maritime professionals and academics, to thoroughly explain the concept of seaworthiness and the relevant legal issues.

The seaworthiness of merchant ships plays a critical role in ensuring the safety of life and property and the prevention of marine pollution. It deals with the fitness and readiness of a ship and its fundamental ability to sail safely to its destination. The standards of seaworthiness extend to literally all aspects of a ship, including the human element, physical structure, documentation, cargo worthiness and so on. It is one of the most complicated concepts in the maritime regulatory regime, and it takes many forms. However, although one of the most important terms in maritime transportation and ship management, seaworthiness is not an absolute concept, but a relative one, dependent on the particular environment, context and facts, and the standards of seaworthiness have changed greatly with the introduction of new maritime regulations over the years. The existing literature on seaworthiness is found within a variety of dedicated articles or book chapters. This book summarizes all that information in one publication and provides an update on key books that are now more than a decade old. In addition, it also offers more detail on specific aspects that are rarely discussed on their own. The reader will gain an understanding of the constituent features which colour its application in sovereign jurisdictions, where each have their own, often conflicting, social or geopolitical priorities to meet. Each chapter relies heavily on case studies to illustrate how the laws which reflect private laws and national policy underpinning those priorities are applied in practice. This structure then enables an understanding of the problems in the carriage of goods by sea, with a view to offering options for solutions. The book is written to meet the needs of lawyers, maritime professionals and academics, to thoroughly explain the concept of seaworthiness and the relevant legal issues.

Readers of Off-hire in Merchant Shipping: Law and Practice will gain a comprehensive understanding of off-hire clauses, their legal and practical implications, and how they function to balance the interests of shipowners and charterers in maritime shipping. The book provides valuable insights into the mechanisms used to allocate losses resulting from delays and the contractual provisions governing these situations. For practitioners, this book solves the problem of navigating the complexities of off-hire clauses in maritime contracts by presenting the information in an accessible manner. It equips them with the knowledge required to effectively manage disputes, understand the rights and obligations of involved parties, and ensure the smooth operation of commercial relationships. The book's unique feature is its reader-friendly approach to explaining the intricacies of off-hire clauses and maritime law, making it suitable for both professionals and those who are new to the field. This approach addresses the challenge of accessibility often faced by readers when dealing with complex legal topics, ensuring they can efficiently apply the acquired knowledge in practice. Written for ship owners, ship charterers, ship managers, maritime investors (bankers and financial institutions), maritime lawyers, maritime insurers, policy-makers and practitioners, the book will also be relevant to postgraduate and PhD students, researchers and academics active in this field.

This book focuses on autonomous marine vessel systems and control approaches. In particular, it mainly contains modeling, analysis and control design methodologies for covert stabilization control, trajectory tracking control, and cooperative formation control of AMVs. The comprehensive and systematic treatment of practical issues in autonomous marine vessel systems is one of the book’s significant features, particularly suited for readers interested in learning control problems in AMV and other related topic areas like mobile robots and vehicles. The book can benefit researchers, engineers, and graduate students in mathematical skills, methodologies, and algorithms needed in the analysis and control design for tracking and stabilization, cooperative control of surface vessels and underwater vehicles. Through the book, readers can have a deeper understanding of such fields.

This book sheds light on the nature and causes of the issues and challenges in human resources in shipping and proposes fresh recommendations to manage them. It explains the multiple forces at play, including the global regulatory regime, national institutional frameworks, industrial practices, trade union responses, and pressures from customers and non-governmental organisations. Human Resource Management in Shipping integrates seafarer employment data released by national maritime authorities and a large body of literature that discusses discrete human resources issues in shipping into a single volume, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the issues and challenges within human resources in shipping. Beyond this, the book also offers a fresh perspective on some of the long lasting HRM challenges in the industry, such as skills shortage and seafarer recruitment and retention. This book aims to provide readers with systematic and in-depth knowledge of human resource management in shipping, and offers researchers a valuable source of reference and a solid foundation on which further development can be built.

This book focuses on autonomous marine vessel systems and control approaches. In particular, it mainly contains modeling, analysis and control design methodologies for covert stabilization control, trajectory tracking control, and cooperative formation control of AMVs. The comprehensive and systematic treatment of practical issues in autonomous marine vessel systems is one of the book’s significant features, particularly suited for readers interested in learning control problems in AMV and other related topic areas like mobile robots and vehicles. The book can benefit researchers, engineers, and graduate students in mathematical skills, methodologies, and algorithms needed in the analysis and control design for tracking and stabilization, cooperative control of surface vessels and underwater vehicles. Through the book, readers can have a deeper understanding of such fields.

Ship Management: Theory and Practice unpacks the complexity of this crucial maritime activity by spelling out its key elements and the connections and linkages between them. Opening with an introduction and an overview of the special characteristics of ship management, the text then focuses on different strands of management. It offers dedicated chapters on strategic management, commercial management, operations management, technical management, human resource management and compliance management, weaving in numerous international examples throughout. The final chapter looks to the future, exploring the challenges facing ship management and the impact of digitalisation. Ship Management: Theory and Practice is a valuable resource for upper-level students of shipping management and maritime operations and can also serve as a one-stop reference for researchers and industry practitioners.

Ship Management: Theory and Practice unpacks the complexity of this crucial maritime activity by spelling out its key elements and the connections and linkages between them. Opening with an introduction and an overview of the special characteristics of ship management, the text then focuses on different strands of management. It offers dedicated chapters on strategic management, commercial management, operations management, technical management, human resource management and compliance management, weaving in numerous international examples throughout. The final chapter looks to the future, exploring the challenges facing ship management and the impact of digitalisation. Ship Management: Theory and Practice is a valuable resource for upper-level students of shipping management and maritime operations and can also serve as a one-stop reference for researchers and industry practitioners.

This book sheds light on the nature and causes of the issues and challenges in human resources in shipping and proposes fresh recommendations to manage them. It explains the multiple forces at play, including the global regulatory regime, national institutional frameworks, industrial practices, trade union responses, and pressures from customers and non-governmental organisations. Human Resource Management in Shipping integrates seafarer employment data released by national maritime authorities and a large body of literature that discusses discrete human resources issues in shipping into a single volume, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the issues and challenges within human resources in shipping. Beyond this, the book also offers a fresh perspective on some of the long lasting HRM challenges in the industry, such as skills shortage and seafarer recruitment and retention. This book aims to provide readers with systematic and in-depth knowledge of human resource management in shipping, and offers researchers a valuable source of reference and a solid foundation on which further development can be built.

This book critically investigates the conditions of seafarers’ rights in China in legislation and in practice, focusing in particular on the restructuring process following the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention. Accordingly, it poses key research questions to major Chinese stakeholders to gauge their responses to the Convention, to determine whether the protection of Chinese seafarers has actually improved since the advent of the Convention, and further, to identify the continuing challenges for future improvement. The Convention will enter into force in China in November 2016, bringing with it significant changes.

This book critically investigates the conditions of seafarers’ rights in China in legislation and in practice, focusing in particular on the restructuring process following the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention. Accordingly, it poses key research questions to major Chinese stakeholders to gauge their responses to the Convention, to determine whether the protection of Chinese seafarers has actually improved since the advent of the Convention, and further, to identify the continuing challenges for future improvement. The Convention will enter into force in China in November 2016, bringing with it significant changes.