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In real navigation, a ship is subjected to the influence of wind, which for ships with a large windage area results in impaired maneuverability, especially in presence of strong and sudden gusts. In such conditions, environmentally critical situation may arise, such as a ship’s inability to perform an adequate maneuver when entering a restricted area, posing a risk of collision with another object or grounding in shallow water. This requires the study of the parameters of non-stationary wind impact using indicat...

The Black Sea ecosystem is increasingly affected by anthropogenic pressures, including the accumulation of organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These contaminants,known for their persistence and toxicity, pose serious risks to marine biodiversity and food safety. The increasing presence of hydrocarbons in marine ecosystems poses a significant threat to biodiversity and sustainable fisheries. This study investigates the bioaccumulation of polycycli...

Coastal zones are among the most climate-vulnerable environments, exposed to extreme weather events, sea level rise, accelerating coastal erosion, biodiversity loss, and socio-economic vulnerability. As these pressures intensify, adaptation strategies have moved beyond engineered infrastructure toward nature-based solutions restoration interventions that work with ecosystems. One of most spread nature-based coastal restoration are seagrass and saltmarsh recovery, dune and wetland rebuilding, and integrated watersh...

Open data and informatics provide new opportunities for cost-effective environmental monitoring in data-scarce regions. This study applies a geospatial informatics approach to assess coastal microbial pollution patterns in Albania during 2023, using openly available datasets from the Albanian Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) and the European Environment Agency (EEA). Microbiological indicators of bathing water quality (intestinal enterococci, IE/100 ml) were combined with municipal solid waste statistics to explor...

In recent years, significant effort has been dedicated to monitoring sea surface temperature (SST) trends at local scales. Previous studies using MODIS data reported an increasing SST trend of 0.05-C/yr for the Ionian Sea and 0.04-C/yr for the eastern Mediterranean. In this study, we use Copernicus Marine Service mean daily gap-free SST data to verify these satellite-derived trends and compare them with daily in-situ measurements from ten aquaculture sites to assess potential discrepancies. Both datasets cover a t...

Mollusca constitute a significant phylum within the Black Sea ecosystem. This study provides the first comprehensive checklist of the phylum Mollusca along the Black Sea Georgian coast. It is based on a collection and synthesis of data from various published sources and unpublished records. The checklist draws on material collected across diverse biotopes at depths ranging from 3 to 205 meters, over a period spanning from 1926 to 2023. These collections were conducted as part of various projects and national monit...

Aquaculture sector holds significant potential for ensuring food security, supporting economic growth, and contributing to the sustainable use of marine resources within the European Union (EU), aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 Life Below Water . However, the potential of aquaculture is constrained by multilevel challenges, including environmental externalities, regulatory complexities, and social acceptance. These challenges are exacerbated by underlying tensions between goals for growing the ...

There is a worldwide ecological problem of anthropogenic eutrophication. The problem is especially serious one for the ecosystems of lakes, water-storage basins, and closed seas, such as the Baltic Sea. The eastern part of the sea is the Neva Bay. The water area is totally located within the administrative border of St. Petersburg and is influenced by the megacity. There is monitoring of the total nitrogen and phosphorus inflow into the Neva Bay with water of the Neva River and its spill streams. Nevertheless, the...

Algae are some of the oldest forms of life on earth, being consumed for centuries. There are numerous studies that highlight the health benefits of consuming seaweed, due to the high content of proteins, dietary fibers, vitamins, antioxidants, and the low-fat content. Nori seaweeds, which is used in the preparation of sushi rolls, stands out for its low caloric intake and high content of minerals, vitamins (vitamin B12 and vitamin C), as well as iodine. Only certain types of species of seaweed are used to make Nor...

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is a framework for collective action in the marine environmental policy established by Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on 17 June 2008. It calls for EU Member States to create national marine strategies to achieve good environmental status (GES) by 2020 or to maintain it in areas where it already exists. Five factors are laid out in Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 for GES assessment in regard to a number of broad habitat types, as two...

From time immemorial, the oceans, seas and their coasts have been the cradle of human civilization and still play a vital role in the lives of millions of people, indirectly affecting all of humanity. The phenomenon of coastalization suggests that our reliance on and dependence from marine and maritime sectors will grow, and their sustainable development is a topical challenge. The Blue growth strategy addresses this issue on a Pan-European level, fostering research and innovation with regards to marine environmen...

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires that biodiversity, structure and function of benthic ecosystems are safeguarded against adverse effects from various human activities. Bottom-trawl fisheries have been identified as a major cause of sea-floor abrasion and it is legally required to evaluate the pressure and its impact. The present study provides a pilot assessment of the physical disturbance on the seabed by mobile bottom-contacting gears and links the pressure intensity to benthic habitats st...

The present study is aimed to assess the status of Black Sea fish species harvested by the Bulgarian fishing fleet, according to the three criteria of Descriptor D3 under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Achieving healthy fish populations depends on the adverse impact on species as a result of fishing activity. Descriptor D3 of MSFD addresses the commercial fish stocks status by applying indicators assessing the exploited fish sustainability, reproductive capacity and recruitment, and the age and si...

Data analysis for multiple data source locations on the wave climate regime of the Western Black Sea Coast is significantly required in port design as well in the delineations of the sheltered conditions, various emergency situations in maritime port areas. Under the extreme wave’s regime circumstances, there is a limited possibility to find certain low-energy areas for ships sheltering. The wave regime presents specificities of the wave field generated by the wind, especially in the port adjacent areas, under the...

The study aims to assess the diversity, density, and heterogeneity of seafloor litter, distributed in the Bulgarian Black Sea’s shelf area. The indicators for assessment follow the national monitoring program under Descriptor D10 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The survey campaign took place between 19.10 – 14.11.2017. Marine debris was gathered by 53 trawl hauls distributed in four regions at depths between 30 and 100m. During the survey, all litter items were collected and classified into seven categ...

The marine storms take place with a relatively high frequency at the Romanian Black Sea coast characterized by an active storm regime, especially in the winter times, when the reported values of wind speed at gust reach 40 m/s, producing the offshore waves high of 5-8 m and even more in the offshore area. Even the frequency of storm surges at the western Black Sea shore is relatively low comparing to other European seas, the North-East occurrence of such storms produces significant exposures. Due to the magnitude ...

Waves represent the most important factor in the evolution of the coastal zones. One of the main causes leading to the wave formation is the movement of the air masses. A particular influence on the wave agitation regime in the littoral sector is exerted by the shore configuration, water depth, bottom relief and the formation of ice cover in winter. The scope of this paper is to analyze the historical data on the wind and waves in the Danube discharge area. The emphasis is on the maximum values of wave heights and...

Being an almost landlocked sea, the Black Sea has a particular situation regarding water exchange and circulation. Moreover, the anthropogenic pressure and shipping related activities worsen the situation of this sea from the pollution point of view. The introductory part of the article presents the role of the ballast water system onboard ships in a few words. Then, the paper presents the environmental context of the Black Sea with the focus on the wind and waves, factors which can affect the ship stability. The ...

The commercialization of innovations in the food industry faces many risks. Only one in ten products successfully reaches supermarket shelves. In particular, the Latvian fish processing industry faces significant difficulties on the path to a successful launch of innovative products still depending on the production of one type of product ? canned fish. Continuing the study on the possibilities of using the fish species available in the country, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, in 2018-2019, de...

The eastern part of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea is the estuary of the Neva River. The study area has significant spatial variability in water salinity. The salinity regime is largely determined by the influx of fresh water from the Neva Bay and water exchange with sea waters from the western sections of the Gulf of Finland. Therefore, the eastern part of the bay is characterized by an increase in salinity from east to west. At the same time, salinity in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland is characte...

This paper presents the results of the sea water heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Cd, As, Zn, Fe, Ni, Cu) content examination in the coastal area of the Sevastopol. The water pollution index was calculated using 4 parameters with the obligatory inclusion of dissolved oxygen. Determination of metal content in water samples was performed by the method of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer PlasmaQuant MS Elite (Analytik Jena, Germany). The determination of the concentration of each of the chemical elements in seawater...

Europa has the densest, diversified and completely transport system on the entire world. Maritime transports have developed since ancient times (in the Mediterranean basin and the countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean) and they are still in development because they present a key point in freight transport. Europe controls one third of the world's commercial fleet and is one of the world's leading maritime centres with 329 key ports along the coast, including Rotterdam, which is the second largest port in the worl...

The capacity of macroalgae for bioaccumulation of harmful elements is beneficial from the point of view of water treatment processes. Nevertheless, it is a threat to marine biocenoses, particularly to organisms on the individual levels of the trophic chain. Since algae have a great potential to bind trace elements, these organisms are often used as indicators of marine environment pollution. The aim of this study was to assess the content of Pb, Cd, B and Ba in water and algae collected in the region of Makarska R...

Accumulation of trace elements in aquatic organisms is an important problem associated with environment pollution and with their utilization for consumption purposes. The aim of the conducted research was to assess the content of Zn, Co and Ba in water and in selected organs of fish of blotched picarel (Spicara maena L.) and haddock (Merlangius euxmus L.), from Karantinna and Balaklava Bays in the region of Sevastopol. The second aim was to determine the level of bioaccumulation of these elements in organisms used...

Zooplankton plays a significant role within the Black Sea ecosystem, contributing to the top ? down regulation of trophic web, by intermediating vital ecological processes such as the nutrients recycling (e.g., by controlling phytoplankton and bacterial aggregates development) within the pelagic and benthic habitats. It is considered an important indicator of ecosystem health, being a quality assessment element within the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). Based on the 55 samples collected in the Romanian wat...

Since 1. January 2013 on all the vessels of a gross tonnage exceeding 400 tons there is a Recommendation in force released by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) which concerns applying a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan ? SEEMP. Applying SEEMP on the vessels is meant to be the way of increasing the efficient energy use of fleet within the economic and ecological scope. Its aim is to increase the efficient energy use of the vessels thanks to the decline in fuel consumption and the same CO2 emission...

Marine pollution with mineral oils has become a major problem due to the negative impact on the marine ecosystem. This threat is mainly caused by maritime transport which discharge the poly aromatic hydrocarbons known as polluting products into the sea through the bilge waters, or through cleaning operations of cargo tanks of chemical and petrochemical vessels, as well as because of naval accidents. Due to the high risks caused by the oil pollution, International Maritime Organization adopted Marpol 73/78, a speci...

A computer programme aiding the diagnostics of the devices in the marine power plant and operation management of this power plant on the fishing vessel of medium size have been characterized. The programme is installed on the Dutch fishing vessels (Fig. 1) of 40 m length and gross tonnage just above 400 RT, with 5-7 persons of crew (skipper, mechanic and fishers). Such vessels are usually dedicated for fishing of demersal fish. Particular modules of the programme used both for diagnostics of devices and organizati...

Bioluminescence field in the Black Sea is formed mainly by accumulations of luminous dinoflagellates, which along with other microalgae are an important component of marine ecosystems. The study of bioluminescence field variability, which reflects the structural and functional parameters of phytoplankton, redounds to a more detailed insight into its spatial and temporal heterogeneity. The article presents the analysis of bioluminescence field structure, measured in five marine expeditions onboard the research vess...

The pressure regulators used in underwater breathing apparatuses determine the respiratory comfort of the diver. Our study focuses on the turbulent flow of gas through the series of valves and nozzles that are component elements of a pressure regulator. The pneumatic resistance, induced by the mechanism that controls the dependence between the air flow rate and the pressure differential created by the diver?s air intake, influences to a notable degree the breathing effort. The second stage of an underwater regulat...

The availability of the Baltic Sea for the largest container vessels is limited primarily to the depth of the Danish Straits. Ships with maximum dimensions of technical for shipping by the Danish Strait are called Baltimax. Currently, the theoretical size of the dimensions of the vessels are as follows: draught 15 m, width 42-48 m, length 240 пїЅ 260 m, capacity 100-120 thousand DWT. Therefore, the authors have analyzed the actual draught consumables container ships of the three largest companies in the world in t...

The development of modern technologies allows us to solve the problem of carrying out long-term measurements of velocity and temperature in lakes. The long-term local measurements of velocity have been conducted in Lake Shira (Khakassia) in the period 2014-2015.The velocity profile along the column of the liquid in Lake Shira occurs due to density summer stratification and wind. The horizontal velocities vary greatly in depth as well as in time. The principal component method has been performed to analyze the hori...

This article identifies the special features of the preliminary designing of RoPax vessels. The hull geometric parameters have been defined as well as the functional parameters of the designed vessel, in consideration of the volume/capacity criterion. The preliminary assumptions have been adopted. T he preliminary calculations algorithm has been proposed, a statistical analysis has been conducted of hull geometrical properties of 20 similar vessels and the relationships reflecting the connections amongst them were...

The present study investigates and evaluates the frequency of emerging extreme wind-induced water level fluctuations, which line up with the marks пїЅadverse eventпїЅ and пїЅdangerous eventпїЅ. The method we applied involved statistics throughout 1972-2016. Standard observation data from hydrometer stations of the Sea of Azov were processed. The study provides the strong evidence that this period had abnormal level activity: ? annual cycle of level had marks above the average sea level datum; rising tide was 0,19 ...

Detecting and monitoring of coccolithophores blooms is increasingly important due to their significant role in ocean biogeochemistry and unique capacity for feedbacks to climate because of calcite carbon and DMS production and high reflectance. Application of remote sensing approach, based on dependence of water optical properties on coccolithophores/coccoliths abundance (particulate back scattering coefficient) , allows for tracing of coccolithophores dynamics at basin-wide scale enabling quantification of bloom ...

The aim of the work is to assess consequences of polychaetes Marenzelleria spp. invasion for the Gulf of Finland ecosystem in a future climate. With this objective benthic submodel of the 3-dimentional eco-hydrodynamic Saint-Petersburg Baltic sea Eutrophication Model (SPBEM) was applied. In the model 4 numerical experiments were carried out: 1) 2 control runs excluding the effects of Marenzelleria spp. under two different scenarios of global climate change (based on ECHAM5 model of Max Planck Institute of Meteorol...

The potentially toxic genus Pseudo-nitzschia H.Peragallo, 1900 is common for the phytoplankton community in the Bulgarian part of the Black Sea often proliferating to bloom densities. The highly similar morphological features hamper the precise species discrimination by light microscopy and an accurate identification requires the application of more sophisticated methods. In this study we used genus specific large subunits ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) primer pair in order to elucidate the species diversity within Pseu...

This study deal with numerical investigation of river sea interaction. River mouth modelling is one of the most complex problem in coastal engineering because of meteorological and oceanographic uncertainties. Although river-sea interaction has been complex problem, these areas have significant importance for human life such as dense population near this places, environmental importance, transportation etc. During the riverпїЅsea interaction numerical modelling just one defined or steady condition modelling is nev...

The Makran coast of Iran is exposed to the long waves generated in the Indian Ocean. The coast experienced huge waves induced by tsunami and cyclone during the past decades. Using the impact of the past events we present potential inundation areas for the great waves on the Makran coast. Based on the value of long wave height, three flood zones are specified on the inundation map. The first zone associated with no considerable inundation on uplifted rocky shore, the second zone would experience up to a few kilomet...

Surface and core sediment samples from the Iranian continental shelf of the Gulf of Oman have been studied using standard sedimentological techniques. Based on the grain size analysis of surface and core sediments, the silt fraction is the common sediment type in the Makran shelf. It ranges from 40\% up to 76\%. The amount of clay fraction varies from 19\% to 54\%. Sandy sediments appear in some cores up to 20\%. Mean content of organic matter and calcium carbonate in the sediments is around 1.75\% and 15.4\%, res...

A review of extreme storm events along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is of interest for wide spectrum of readers – oceanographers, meteorologists, engineers, economists, decision makers and stakeholders. Reasonable management of the coastal zone demands a reliable and timely forecasting of storm events and evaluation of the related potential damages and economical losses. This paper focuses on the heavy storm of February 1979. The aim of the study is reconstruction of all stages of the storm on the basis of avai...

The aim of the present study is to investigate the biological effects of contaminants is a combination of chemical and biological measurements. Among biological measurements, investigation of alteration at the cellular or sub-cellular level can provide an early-warning signal of adverse biological response before they are manifested at the population and community level. Lysosome destabilization test has been the method of choice in the present paper. A relatively low retention time of the used red neutral dye amo...

A marine archaeological survey reveals not only ancient relics, in cases of success but interesting features on the seabed. During a field work, at the sea area westwards of Santorini island, (South Aegean Sea, Greece) we discovered volcanic formations of pillow lavas surrounded by hydrothermal vents, delineated by white bacterial mats and drifted particulates in the water column. With side scan sonar, we recorded two circular dome-like formations possibly of volcanic origin with nearby larger seamounts and wide o...