Concluding Remarks
419
ship has to be towed into a harbour with minimum potential danger to the surrounding environment.
The spreading of the optimum locations based on different approaches implicitly characterizes the applicability and robustness of the entire approach. The outcome strongly depends on the nature of the underlying measures. If their distributions have a well-defined extremum (or zero-crossing), the outcome of the technique is fairly robust. If the spatial gradients of these distributions are small, even
extensive variations in the optimum solutions may lead to a marginal increase in
the environmental risk. In particular, extensive variations in the optimum locations for small changes of the model parameters and selection criteria signify that
the domain in question may contain areas with quite different internal dynamics.
These areas can be separated based on the magnitude of gradients of the fields
characterizing the ‘ability’ of different domains to serve as a source of coastal
pollution. The proposed technique, therefore, may be used as a tool for identifying regions with different internal properties for a use in maritime spatial planning.
Probably the most promising application of the discussed technique is ship routing based on environmental criteria. There is obvious potential for greening of the
marine transport by means of very limited investments into scientific research (operational) modelling and development of decision support systems. The average probability of coastal pollution can be made substantially smaller, at least theoretically,
by means of a quite insignificant increase in the length of the sailing line. A substantial increase in the potential reaction time to oil pollution is the most promising
aspect as it also provides an option of natural weathering and dispersion of some
types of pollution.
The proposed technique can also be used as a tool supporting decisions about
how far the fairway should be located from the coast (or from vulnerable areas)
facing the open ocean. The probability of coastal pollution for open ocean coasts
can be reduced by shifting ship routes farther offshore. Such a shift creates additional direct costs and increases threats via offshore dangers such as considerably
higher wave loads. Ideally, such decisions should reflect a balance of environmental
concerns and related additional costs.
The entire method is computationally relatively expensive because credible
results require high-resolution eddy-resolving simulations. The complexity of
the problem increases drastically when also wave-induced drift is accounted for
(Chap. 11). At present, its use seems to be only feasible for relatively small sea
areas. However, if the calculations have been performed once for a particular region with the necessary resolution and accuracy, the resulting maps have a long
term value and can be used for various exercises in marine spatial planning. The
key contribution to the needs of society is the possibility of extracting and visualizing important information for decision-making that usually remains concealed in
classical methods of the analysis of ocean currents.
The above discussion has demonstrated the overall sensitivity of the optimum
location of fairways on several details of the entire approach such as the resolution of
the underlying ocean model. The sensitivity of the results on different choices of the
419
ship has to be towed into a harbour with minimum potential danger to the surrounding environment.
The spreading of the optimum locations based on different approaches implicitly characterizes the applicability and robustness of the entire approach. The outcome strongly depends on the nature of the underlying measures. If their distributions have a well-defined extremum (or zero-crossing), the outcome of the technique is fairly robust. If the spatial gradients of these distributions are small, even
extensive variations in the optimum solutions may lead to a marginal increase in
the environmental risk. In particular, extensive variations in the optimum locations for small changes of the model parameters and selection criteria signify that
the domain in question may contain areas with quite different internal dynamics.
These areas can be separated based on the magnitude of gradients of the fields
characterizing the ‘ability’ of different domains to serve as a source of coastal
pollution. The proposed technique, therefore, may be used as a tool for identifying regions with different internal properties for a use in maritime spatial planning.
Probably the most promising application of the discussed technique is ship routing based on environmental criteria. There is obvious potential for greening of the
marine transport by means of very limited investments into scientific research (operational) modelling and development of decision support systems. The average probability of coastal pollution can be made substantially smaller, at least theoretically,
by means of a quite insignificant increase in the length of the sailing line. A substantial increase in the potential reaction time to oil pollution is the most promising
aspect as it also provides an option of natural weathering and dispersion of some
types of pollution.
The proposed technique can also be used as a tool supporting decisions about
how far the fairway should be located from the coast (or from vulnerable areas)
facing the open ocean. The probability of coastal pollution for open ocean coasts
can be reduced by shifting ship routes farther offshore. Such a shift creates additional direct costs and increases threats via offshore dangers such as considerably
higher wave loads. Ideally, such decisions should reflect a balance of environmental
concerns and related additional costs.
The entire method is computationally relatively expensive because credible
results require high-resolution eddy-resolving simulations. The complexity of
the problem increases drastically when also wave-induced drift is accounted for
(Chap. 11). At present, its use seems to be only feasible for relatively small sea
areas. However, if the calculations have been performed once for a particular region with the necessary resolution and accuracy, the resulting maps have a long
term value and can be used for various exercises in marine spatial planning. The
key contribution to the needs of society is the possibility of extracting and visualizing important information for decision-making that usually remains concealed in
classical methods of the analysis of ocean currents.
The above discussion has demonstrated the overall sensitivity of the optimum
location of fairways on several details of the entire approach such as the resolution of
the underlying ocean model. The sensitivity of the results on different choices of the