Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Watshamiella Wiebes species (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae: Sycoryctinae) were observed to engage, monitor and subsequently use oviposition holes made by other parasitoid fig wasp genera (Apocrypta Coquerel and Sycoryctes Mayr) to oviposit into host figs (Moraceae, Ficus) through the fig wall. They may be inquilines, klepto-parasitoids, or hyper-parasitoids; however, further biological investigations of larval diet are required to establish their life history strategy. Watshamiella species are morphologically robust, with enlarged fore femora and tibia, and aggressively interact with other fig wasps and ants. Our observations contribute towards unravelling the complex suite of behavioural adaptations and interactions involved in the community ecology of the obligate mutualism that exists between fig wasps and their host figs.

ABSTRACT This paper presents recently collected swath bathymetry from the Firth of Lorn. 553 km 2 of data were collected during 2012–2013 as part of the INIS Hydro (Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland Hydrographic Survey) programme. The area proves to consist of bedrock-dominated seabed, divided into narrow, stratigraphically-constrained and glacially-over-deepened basins. The bedrock is composed of late Proterozoic Dalradian metasediments overlain unconformably by Old Red Sandstone (ORS) sediments and lavas of ?Silurian-age. The central region of the Firth of Lorn is dominated by a vertical cliff, up to 150 m high and extending for approximately 24 km. This feature, here termed the Insh Fault, may have originated as a Dalradian extensional fault, been reactivated as an ORS feature and now forms a fault-line scarp with resistant ORS rocks on the downthrown side, flanking the more deeply eroded metasediments exposed in the basin. Tertiary intrusives are common, in particular, swarms of Paleocene dolerite dykes exposed on the sediment-free bedrock surfaces, and can be traced for many kilometres. Evidence for past glaciation is widespread, manifest in the extensive erosion of the bedrock platforms and the abundance of well-preserved moraines and over-deepened basins. The survey region includes the Corryvreckan Whirlpool and Great Race, beneath the tidal flows of which occur submarine dunes.

In case of an oil spill, dispersant application represents a response option, which enhances the natural dispersion of oil and thus reduces coating of seabirds and coastal areas. However, as oil is transferred to the water phase, a trade-off of potential harmful effects shifted to other compartments must be performed. This paper summarizes the results of a workshop on the current knowledge on risks and benefits of the use of dispersants with respect to specific conditions encountered at the German sea areas. The German North Sea coast is a sensitive ecosystem characterised by tidal flats, barrier islands and salt marshes. Many prerequisites for a potential integration of dispersants as spill response option are available in Germany, including sensitivity maps and tools for drift modelling of dispersed and undispersed oil. However, open scientific questions remain concerning the persistence of dispersed oil trapped in the sediments and potential health effects.

The autonomous ships’ introduction is associated with a number of challenges including the lack of appropriate risk acceptance criteria to support the risk assessment process during the initial design phases. This study aims to develop a rational methodology for selecting appropriate risk matrix ratings, which are required to perform the risk assessment of autonomous and conventional ships at an early design stage. This methodology consists of four phases and employs the individual and societal risk acceptance criteria to determine the risk matrix ratings for the groups of people exposed to risks. During the first and second phase, the required input parameters for the risk matrix ratings based on the individual risk and societal risk are calculated, respectively. During the third phase, the risk matrix ratings are defined using input from the first and second phases. During the fourth phase, the equivalence between the different types of consequences is specified. The methodology is applied for the case study of a crewless inland waterways ship to assess her typical operation within north-European mainland. The results demonstrate that the inclusion of societal risk resulted in more stringent risk matrix ratings compared to the ones employed in previous studies. Moreover, the adequacy of the proposed methodology and its effectiveness to provide risk acceptance criteria aligned with societal and individual risk acceptance criteria as well as its applicability to conventional ships are discussed.

ABSTRACT The oil tanker Sea Empress spilled more than 72,000 tons (23 million U.S. gallons) of crude oil when she grounded at Milford Haven, United Kingdom, on February 15, 1996. The response at sea by the U.K. government through the Coastguard Agency's Marine Pollution Control Unit involved aerial surveillance, the spraying of dispersants from aircraft, and the recovery of several thousand tons of oil from the sea surface. This paper by the overall commander presents an overview of the incident and the response operation at sea.

The inclining experiment is typically performed for all new-build ships and after any major refit. The purpose of the inclining experiment is to establish the vertical distance of the centre-of-mass of the ship above its keel in the lightship condition. This value is then taken as the point of reference when loading the ship, for establishing the ‘in-service’ stability, throughout the life of the ship. Experimental uncertainty analysis is commonly utilised in hydrodynamic testing to establish the uncertainty in a result as a function of the input variables. This can in turn be utilised to establish an interval about the result that may be expected to encompass a large fraction of the distribution of values that could reasonably be attributed to the measurement. This paper provides a methodology for calculating a confidence interval for the location of the centre-of-mass of a ship from an inclining experiment; and ultimately, in any load condition. The uncertainty compared to an assumed metacentric height of 0.15 m is provided for four classes of ship: buoy tender 0.15±0.15 m (±100%); super yacht 0.150±0.033 m (±22.0%); supply ship 0.150±0.047 m (±31.3%), container ship 0.150±0.029 m (±19.3%), ropax 0.150±0.077 m (±100%).

ABSTRACT On Tuesday, January 5, 1993, the tanker Braer laden with 84,700 metric tons of Norwegian Gullfaks crude oil drifted aground at Garths Ness, Shetland Islands. Over the next eight days, the vessel's total cargo of crude oil was spilled. The Marine Pollution Control Unit immediately activated the Marine Emergencies Information Room in London and deployed staff to Shetland. It was agreed with Shetland Islands Council to establish a joint response center at Sumburgh Airport to coordinate and control the shoreline cleanup. The incident affected an area of international environmental importance and also threatened the local economy. Because of the lightness of Gullfaks crude and the severe weather, the bulk of the oil dispersed naturally and very little came ashore. The land beyond the shoreline was polluted by airborne oil spray carried on the storm force winds. Aerial spraying of dispersant on oil on the sea took place on three days. Some environmentally sensitive areas were protected by booms and dams. Of the 39 sites considered at risk, only 9 beaches and other sites merited cleaning.

ABSTRACT Many previous studies using laboratory test methods have shown that the ability to disperse spilled oils depends on several factors including: spilled oil properties (and how these change with oil weathering), the mixing energy, and the dispersant-to-oil ratio (DOR). There appears to be a ‘limiting oil viscosity’ value that, when exceeded, causes a sharp reduction in the effectiveness of a dispersant. The results obtained in laboratory tests are relative and not absolute, and it has therefore proved very difficult to correlate dispersant effectiveness results from these laboratory tests with dispersant performance at sea. A series of small-scale dispersant tests were conducted at sea in the English Channel in June 2003. Several small test slicks of residual fuel oils of different viscosity grades were laid on the sea and immediately sprayed with different dispersants at different DORs. Observers used a simple ranking system to visually assess the degree of dispersion that occurred when a cresting wave passed through an area of the dispersant-treated oil. Collation of the results showed that there were obvious and consistent differences in the degree of effectiveness observed with different combinations of oil viscosity, dispersant and treatment rate.

When the Sea Empress ran aground at the entrance to Milford Haven at 2007 hours on Thursday, February 15, 1996, she lost a total of 72,000 tons of crude oil over a period of 7 days. Another paper in this session gives an overview of the incident and describes the response at sea. This paper describes the shoreline cleanup operation as it was directed by the joint response center (JRC) set up at Milford Haven.

The Blackpool central area coast protection scheme is the largest single UK coastal defence project completed in the past 10 years. The scheme is situated in a key location of this nationally important tourist destination. It has successfully addressed the dual aims of delivering significantly improved coastal defences and high-quality public realm as an integral part of a regeneration masterplan. This paper discusses the partnering approach adopted throughout the design and construction of the scheme together with identifying the key challenges that were addressed, enabling innovative engineering and construction solutions to be adopted which delivered considerable benefits in terms of aesthetic quality, constructability and durability.

Comparisons of the safety record of the fishing industry with other industrial sectors indicate that it continues to be the most dangerous occupation by a significant margin. Satety data from fishing vessels are scarce and often accompanied with a high degree of uncertainty. For this reason the use of conventional probabilistic risk assessment may not be well suited. This paper proposes two novel approaches for risk and maintenance modelling of fishing vessels. An approach using fuzzy set theory (FST) is developed to model the occurrence likelihood and consequences for the identified hazards on a fishing vessel. As the time between maintenance opportunities of a fishing vessel can vary considerably, it allows for failures on the machinery to propagate and lead to a catastrophic breakdown. A model using delay time analysis (DTA) is proposed to ascertain the optimal inspection period for fishing vessel equipment depending on the criteria selected. The two criteria modelled are down time and cost. As both these criteria may not be satisfied simultaneously, a best compromise is proposed. Test data from an ocean going trawler are used to demonstrate the two proposed approaches and the results obtained are discussed in detail.

Colenutt, A., Mason, T., Cocuccio, A., Kinnear, R. and Parker, D., 2013. Nearshore high resolution substrate and marine habitat mapping to inform marine policy and coastal management.The Defra-funded National Network of Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes of England, through collaboration with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Civil Hydrography Programme, are increasingly utilising cost-effective technology to achieve 100% seafloor coverage to International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Order 1a standard, of the nearshore zone from about Mean Low Water Springs to approximately 1km offshore. Detailed specifications have been developed to ensure efficient acquisition of swath bathymetric data that are accurate, repeatable, maximise interoperability and are made freely available. Analysis of seabed substrate and habitat maps, which identify zones of exposed bedrock and surficial deposits of coarse, fine and mixed sediments, provide spatial detail of seabed features, such as sand waves, rock outcrops, pinnacles and scour and provide baseline conditions for monitoring of marine ecosystems. Interpretation and production of marine geology maps may also provide important information about seafloor composition and structure, physical properties and sedimentological and geological processes such as natural hazards. The methodology developed for data processing and interpretation combined with examples from a suite of detailed indicative substrate and marine habitat maps is presented. Interpretation of the full coverage swath bathymetry and acoustic backscatter information and ground-truthing data enables high resolution marine-related spatial and temporal substrate whilst habitat maps provide a sound multi-disciplinary scientific evidence base to inform development of European and UK marine environmental policy and planning, and are valuable tools for managing the sustainable use and conservation of coastal and marine resources, thus aiding the integration of terrestrial and marine planning regimes.

BACKGROUND: Recent publications have reported superior efficacy of telaprevir- or boceprevir-based triple therapy over conventional peginterferon-alfa/ribavirin therapy, albeit with varying rates of adverse events and treatment discontinuations in HIV/HCV coinfected patients. Therefore, the aim of this study is to describe the effectiveness of triple therapy in an HIV/HCV coinfection cohort in the Netherlands. METHODS: HIV-infected patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 starting triple therapy including either boceprevir or telaprevir were enrolled, 26% had F3-F4 fibrosis. Data were assessed at Week 4, 8, 12, 24, 48 and SVR12 (i.e. absence of detectable plasma HCV RNA 12 weeks after completion of treatment). Failure was defined as discontinuation of treatment due to virological failure, adverse events or loss to follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 53 HIV/HCV coinfected patients started peginterferon-alfa/ribavirin therapy with either boceprevir (n = 29) or telaprevir (n = 24). SVR12 was achieved in 19 (66%) of the boceprevir-treated and 15 (63%) of the telaprevir-treated patients. Both prior relapse and achievement of a rapid virological response were associated with a higher SVR12 rate. Non- response, breakthrough and relapse occurred in 4, 1 and 5 patients on boceprevir and 3, 2, 2 on telaprevir, respectively. One patient was lost to follow-up and one patient died due to progression of liver failure. Except for these two patients, no treatment discontinuations were observed due to adverse events. CONCLUSION: In HIV/HCV coinfected patients, boceprevir or telaprevir triple therapy was well tolerated and resulted in favourable SVR12 rates comparable with previous publications concerning HCV mono-infected patients.

The stability of a damaged roll-on roll-off vessel with water on the vehicle deck is discussed. It is shown that the heeling moment that heels the ship beyond the static angle of equilibrium in calm water comes from water on deck, elevated above sea level by the dynamic action of waves. Three methods of calculating the heel angle with water on deck are discussed. In addition, the critical heel angle associated with the point of no return is analysed. Finally, the paper argues that the GZ curve for the damaged ship should correspond to the concept of minimum stability, which is not very well known within the profession.

Abstract The paper describes the conservation importance and rationale for examining ecological restoration options for the Lymington/Keyhaven saltmarshes in Southern England. Physical process studies have established why this coastal habitat is under pressure and have quantified the rate of erosion. A vegetation survey of the saltmarshes suggested that (a) wave attack, (b) ship wash, (c) poor drainage, (d) deferential sedimentation, and (e) relative sea‐level rise are contributing to the loss of saltmarsh quality and quantity. Saltmarsh re‐creation is not a viable option for this site; instead, a combination of rehabilitation techniques is proposed.

In anticipation of the forthcoming new harmonised regulations for damage stability, SOLAS Chapter II-1, proposed in IMO MSC 80 and due for enforcement in 2009, a number of ship owners and consequentially yards and classification societies are venturing to exploit the new degrees of freedom afforded by the probabilistic concept of ship subdivision. In this process, designers are finding it rather difficult to move away from the prescription mindset that has been deeply ingrained in their way of conceptualising, creating and completing a ship design. Total freedom it appears is hard to cope with and a helping hand is needed to guide them in crossing the line from prescriptive to goal-setting design. This will be facilitated considerably with improved understanding of what this concept entails and of its limitations and range of applicability. This paper represents an attempt in this direction, based on the results of a research study, financed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in the UK, to assess the design implications of the new harmonised rules on passenger and cargo ships.

The history of the first 10 years of the Channel Navigation Information Service (CNIS) from its inception in 1972 has been well-documented in Captain Richard Emden's three papers published in the Journal of the Royal Institute of Navigation. While the purpose of this paper is to discuss the period of consolidation following these first 10 years, it is perhaps appropriate to set out briefly the factors leading up to the introduction of CNIS in the Dover Strait, the operating philosophy and some of the major milestones along the way.

Since its inception in 1972 progress of the Channel Navigation Information Service (CNIS) has twice been described in the Journal . The tenth anniversary of the first broadcast bulletin of information occurred on 31 July 1982, and it is perhaps appropriate to review and bring up to date the major milestones in the history of the Service and to review the safety of navigation in the Dover Strait. It will be recalled that, following the multiple collision off the Varne in 1971 and bearing in mind previous major disasters – Torrey Canyon, Pacific Glory , etc. – the Department of Trade concluded that a voluntary Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), without surveillance and without a coordinating information service, was inadequate for the dense and complex maritime traffic problems of the Dover Strait. Thus was born the Dover Strait Information Service, now CNIS, under the aegis of HM Coastguard, and located on the upper floor of an old Port War Signal Station at Leathercote Point, St Margaret's Bay. The Decca Marine Radar Company installed a simple harbour radar and its associated display towards the end of 1971 and Coastguard evolved the essential elements of what remains to this day a half-hourly bulletin, broadcast on vhf/rt Channel 10. In low visibility intermediate broadcasts are given, based on actual visibilities reported from sea. In August 1973 the French authorities installed a similar system at Cap Gris Nez and a very close co-ordination, vital from the mariner's point of view, developed.

Aim: In the United Kingdom (UK), 600 deaths per annum are attributable to drowning. Despite this there is scarce critical care data on drowning patients globally. We describe drowning cases admitted to critical care units with a focus on functional outcomes. Materials and Methods: Medical records for critical care admissions following a drowning event were retrospectively reviewed across six hospitals in Southwest England for cases presenting in the period between 2009 and 2020. Data was collected according to the Utstein international consensus guidelines on drowning. Results: Forty-nine patients were included, 36 males and 13 females, including seven children. Median submersion duration was 2.5 min 20 cases were in cardiac arrest when rescued. At discharge 22 patients had preserved functional status, 10 patients had a reduced functional status. 17 patients died in hospital. Conclusion: Admission to critical care following drowning is uncommon and associated with high rates of mortality and poor functional outcomes. We find that 31% of those who survived a drowning event subsequently required an increased level of assistance with their activities of daily living.

In any maritime emergency where time elapses from the start of the incident to the arrival of rescue units it is necessary to establish the most probable survivor area. The procedure for establishing a most probable area is known as search area determination and requires the calculation of one position from another, known respectively as the datum point (DP) – the most probable position of survivors – and the last known position (LKP) – the incident position with recourse to the effects of tide and wind. Under the present manual methodology of the search and rescue planning system (USCG 1973), the DP is given an error treatment comprising drift initial position and search and rescue unit navigational (SRU) errors. Error calculations produce a search area radius (R) which is ‘boxed’ and referenced by four corner coordinates given in latitude and longitude.