Shipping accident prevention, preparedness, and response
How can we understand maritime accidents? Under what conditions do they happen and what factors are involved in their occurrence? What can we do to avoid their occurrence or improve our preparedness in case an accident occurs? What can we learn from everyday work in avoiding accidents? How can we improve the capabilities of various actors in the maritime system to prevent maritime accidents, or to mitigate their consequences? What methods and approaches are effective to these purposes?
This work focuses on applying analytical and organizational research methods to understand safety risks in the maritime domain. Models are developed to aid us in this understanding, and to understand the plausible effects of changes in the maritime system on improving prevention, preparedness, and response.
Impacts of maritime activities on the marine environment
What impacts do vessels have to the marine environment? How can we assess these impacts holistically, and how do we characterize their cumulative effects? What are the effects of management options in lowering the environmental impacts? What methods and approaches are effective to aid our understanding of these impacts and the management implications?
This work focuses on applying analytical approaches to understand environmental risks of maritime activities. Analyses are performed to improve our understanding of system-level implications of changes in technology or procedures on the cumulative effects of maritime activities on the marine environment. Models are developed to aid us in this understanding, serving as a basis for proactive decision making aiming to facilitate sustainable uses of oceans and marine spaces.
Maritime transport system disruption, impacts, and response
What implications do disruptions caused by natural hazards have to the maritime system? How does this impact coastal communities? What are critical factors in these disruptions, and what relation does climate change have to these? How can maritime assets be effectively used in the immediate disaster response phases to ensure the safety and wellbeing of coastal communities? How do maritime assets link with the multimodal logistics chain? What methods and models are effective for these purposes?
This work focuses on applying analytical approaches to understand effects of natural disasters on shipping activities, and on the implications of shipping disruptions to the flow of goods and people in the disaster response phase. Analyses are performed to improve our understanding of system-level vulnerabilities of maritime transport infrastructures and services, and to enable stakeholders to prioritize actions to ensure community safety and wellbeing. Models are developed to aid us in this understanding, serving as a basis for proactive decision making and developing strategies for increasing maritime transportation and coastal community resilience.
Maritime risk management and governance
What governance approaches are effective for risks associated with different maritime activities in various contexts? What perceptions do various stakeholders have about maritime activities, and what stakeholder engagement processes are suitable for their societal risk governance? How can models assists decision makers and stakeholders to better understand maritime risks? What models and approaches are currently used in various maritime risk management contexts, and how effective are those?
This work focuses on social and organizational processes in managing and governing maritime risks. Social science research methods are applied to increase the understanding of organizational and governance issues in maritime contexts.