No abstract

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spanish government declared a State of Emergency, and domestic passenger ship traffic was restricted in Spanish ports. This manuscript presents scenarios of emissions from domestic shipping traffic in the seas of the Strait of Gibraltar (Spain) over three months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emissions were estimated for only 90 days of the pandemic, and two scenarios were studied: emissions while vessels were berthed at the Algeciras Port and emissions as a consequence of the interruption of passenger ship transportation in the Strait of Gibraltar. To this end, the authors’ own model was used, which has near zero uncertainties. This model was used for the first time in this study and takes into account both meteorological and sea condition parameters, as well as the efficiency of the propulsion system. The manuscript concentrates on the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), carbon dioxide (CO2), and particulate matter (PM) from six Ro-Pax ships that ceased to operate. The main finding is that as a consequence of the pandemic, reductions of up to 12% were found in the Strait of Gibraltar in all the pollutants and GHGs when taking into account all international traffic, while the decrease in emissions from domestic traffic only reached 51%.

Gaseous and particulate emissions from oceangoing ships have a significant effect on the quality of air in cities. This study estimates mainly the influence of NOx, SOx, and particulate matter (PM2.5) on air quality in the Strait of Gibraltar (Spain) using the authors’ own Ship´s Energy and Emissions Model (SENEM) and the California Puff air quality model (CALPUFF) in 2017. The Algeciras Bay Industrial Zone recorded the highest levels of pollutants, and the Palmones area was identified as a major hotspot, with mean daily ship-sourced SOx concentrations >215 μg/m3, while the highest concentrations of PM10 reached 8.5 μg/m3 inside the Strait, and the mean yearly contribution of PM2.5 reached 0.86 μg/m3 in the city of Algeciras. The incidence of maritime traffic emissions on the levels of particle emissions, CO, HC, NMVOC, and CO2 reached values of up to 20–25% in all the receivers defined in the study.

In recent years, soft skills have become increasingly important in many areas of the labor market and in the training of higher education students. This paper explores the perception that different crewmembers of Spanish flag vessels have about the influence of different soft skills in their work environment. A quantitative study is developed based on the answers to a survey to assess the different soft skills. The study involved 120 crewmembers of Spanish vessels, representing all possible positions and all types of coastal or ocean-going vessels. Student's t-test and ANOVA test were used to compare mean perceptions by gender, age range, navigation experience, position held, position experience, navigation class and vessel type. Three families of soft skills are distinguished: (i) communicative skills, (ii) team effectiveness, and (iii) long-range planning skills. In all of them, participants gave very high ratings, especially in team effectiveness. Significant differences were also identified in the perception of communicative skills and long-range planning skills when differentiated by position held and in the perception of communicative and teamwork skills when differentiated by type of vessel.

No abstract