Professor Ulla Tapaninen's blog
“The history of shipping is full of innovations that have raised some shipping companies and brought others down.” The maritime industry has undergone several revolutions over the centuries. Steam replaced wind as the main power source for ships a century ago, and internal combustion engines followed. Container shipping has been a huge revolution, speeding up … Continue reading Creative destruction
Do not worry if you forget your studies in working life: everything is different at work. However, this age-old wisdom does not apply at my home: we follow strict Just-In-Time principles in everything. After all, I have a Master of Science in Production Management as my basic education. Production plant location One of the most … Continue reading LEAN management in the household
The green transition of shipping is not a new thing. As early as 1997, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) began a discussion on reducing carbon dioxide emissions from shipping. The first regulation regulating the energy consumption of new ships, called EEDI, came into force in 2011. Since then, the IMO's regulations for reducing greenhouse gases … Continue reading The green transition of maritime transport, where are we now?
Regional emission targets effectively guide development towards low emissions My doctoral student Riina Otsason defended her thesis on reducing carbon emissions from ships at Tallinn University of Technology just before Midsummer. Her case study Environmental and Techno-Economic Assessment of Decarbonization Pathways for Ships Below 5,000 GT focused on urban and archipelago shipping vessels and other … Continue reading Smaller ships are already undergoing significant changes
Hormuz, the Red Sea, the Black Sea and the Baltic are exposing the gap between maritime law and maritime reality, write Dr Deniece Aiken and Professor Ulla Tapaninen. The crises in Hormuz, the Red Sea, the Black Sea and the Baltic are not only tests of shipping resilience. They are tests of whether international maritime … Continue reading When the sea stops being free
If the current situation continues for a long time, is it possible that in the future free navigation of the seas will be agreed on regionally or in bilateral agreements between countries? Hopefully not. It is clear to those of us working in the shipping industry that our current prosperity is based on world trade. … Continue reading Is the time for free navigation over?
The Economist, one of the world’s leading business magazines, wrote a few weeks ago: “Whatever happens in the Strait of Hormuz, energy markets have been changed for ever”. The Strait of Hormuz separates the Persian Gulf from the Indian Ocean. In The Persian Gulf are located the export ports of major oil and gas exporters … Continue reading The Strait of Hormuz Blockade Has Caused a Global Energy Crisis
Four years ago, our research group was invited to participate in an EU-funded research project to develop an unmanned flying ship, a ground effect ship. A wing-in-ground-effect or winged ship, WIG, is a vehicle that looks like an airplane and flies a few meters above the ground or sea. Many of you probably remember the … Continue reading Will the ships of the future fly?
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