Sustainable and efficient container unloading is a critical operation in maritime logistics, as it directly affects port throughput and ship turnaround time. Since quay cranes are the primary equipment responsible for this task, their effective scheduling is essential to minimize delays and ensure operational stability. This paper presents a two-level optimization approach for quay crane scheduling that balances operational efficiency with ship stability. At the bay level, we compare a flexible crane assignment strategy with the port’s current strategy, which ensures ship stability but results in a long total unloading time. Using the LINGO solver and a Genetic Algorithm (GA), we achieve up to a 15% improvement. To leverage the port’s strategy while overcoming its inefficiency, we redefine the unloading unit at the tier level and structure the process into two sequential phases. A hybrid metaheuristic combining the Firefly Algorithm (FA) and Cuckoo Search (CS) is proposed and compared with the GA. The hybrid algorithm shows higher consistency and statistically comparable solution quality to the GA.
The Port of Split handles more passengers than any other Croatian port, and its published traffic statistics offer a compact case for applying elementary statistical methods to a real transport problem. This study analyses twenty-one years of annual data, from 2005 to 2025, covering total passengers, cruise passengers and accompanied vehicles, and asks whether the three segments recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic at the same pace. Five methods are applied, each chosen so that its result can be checked by hand: descriptive statistics, year-on-year and compound annual growth rates, ordinary least-squares trend regression, Pearson correlation, and the ratio of passengers to vehicles. A linear trend fitted to the fifteen pre-pandemic years is projected forward to 2025, which turns the question of whether traffic has recovered into a measurable comparison against the path it was on beforehand. Figures published by the Split Port Authority form the primary source. Cruise passenger counts for 2005 to 2008 and annual cruise-call totals were provided by the Port Authority on request. Passenger data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics serve as an independent cross-check and supply a domestic and international breakdown, and Split Airport figures give context on air arrivals. Passenger traffic fell by more than half in 2020 and returned to within four per cent of its pre-pandemic trend by 2023. Vehicle traffic crossed its own trend line in 2021 and finished 2025 twenty-six per cent above it, while the ratio of passengers to vehicles, steady between 6.7 and 7.0 across 2014 to 2019, has settled near 5.8 and shows no sign of returning. A separate result concerns the cruise segment: the number of calls has shown no trend since 2008, yet the average number of cruise passengers recorded per call rose from 475 to 1,273, so growth in cruise tourism at this port has come from what each call brings rather than from more calls arriving. Passenger volumes have therefore recovered while the composition of that traffic has not, and the paper examines why fewer people now travel per vehicle, including the possibility that fully occupied tourist coaches have become less common and that a growing share of air arrivals continues onward by rental vehicle.
This paper analyzes the relationship between the maritime domain boundary and the port area boundary in the context of nautical tourism ports, examining the legal and property law implications of their potential overlap. The hypothesis is that the current dual boundary determination system is not fully adapted to the specific characteristics of nautical tourism ports. The study focuses on the relationship between the maritime domain boundary and the port area boundary, with particular emphasis on the property law consequences of their overlap. The maritime domain is a public good outside private legal circulation, managed by the state, while the port area is a functionally defined space intended for port activities. In practice, the port area boundary is generally located within the maritime domain, but the procedures for determining these boundaries arise from different legal frameworks and are implemented through distinct administrative and normative mechanisms. This normative dualism can create legal ambiguities, especially in nautical tourism ports (marinas), where the maritime domain and port area almost always coincide both spatially and functionally. Problems arise when the maritime domain boundary has not been clearly established before determining the port area and granting a concession for the economic use of the maritime domain, or when the maritime domain boundary has been established but the port area boundary remains unclear. These situations can result in inconsistencies between the concession scope, the land registry status of the properties, and spatial planning documents. The consequences include legal uncertainty for investors, disputes over the extent of concessions, and challenges in managing and developing port infrastructure. The paper uses a range of scientific methods, including inductive and deductive reasoning, analysis and synthesis, abstraction and concretization, generalization and specialization, proof and refutation, classification, description, historical analysis, compilation, and comparative methodology. The application of these methods confirmed the hypothesis and led to the conclusion that the possibility of unified determination of the maritime domain boundary and the port area boundary needs to be considered during the establishment or concession granting process of a port.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the institute of shipmortgage in Croatian law, with particular emphasis on its legal nature, effects, and practical issues. The analysis encompasses the normative framework of the Maritime Code, case law, and international sources of law. The paper proceeds from the thesis that the dualism between ship mortgages and maritime liens causes legal uncertainty and increasesfinancing risk. Ship mortgage represents one of the key instruments for financing maritime activities. A ship, as an object of rights, possesses a specific legal nature that requires deviation from the general rules of property law. It is precisely this specificity that generates a number of theoretical and practical issues that are the subject of this paper. The analysis also includes doctrinal positions and implications for legal certainty. The Maritime Code of the Republic of Croatia constitutes the fundamental source of law for this paper, particularly through the provisions of Articles 219-234, governing the registration of ships and ship mortgages, as well as Articles 241-254, governing maritime liens. The specific nature of ship mortgage, as a real right over another's property effective erga omnes, derives from the fact that it concerns a movable asset treated as immovable property. This is also evident in the manner of regulating legal relationships through agreements on securing monetary claims by establishing a mortgage on a ship, which is presented in detail in the paper. Through the analysed case law for the purposes of this paper, the thesis hasbeen confirmed that maritime liens take priority over mortgages, as well as that there is a clear emphasis on the limitation of the principle of reliance on registers, which demonstrates a deviation from general rules. The main issues include the slowness of procedures for registration and recording of ships and rights therein in ship registers, in relation to the evident conflict between mortgages and liens, particularly in light of the fact that the registration of maritime liens in ship registers is not mandatory. The conclusion is that a ship mortgage constitutes a developed but insufficiently balancedsystem, and that modernisation of the system through the digitalisation of registers, more precise regulation of priorities in the registration of encumbrances on ships, and the acceleration of enforcement proceedings would undoubtedly lead to greater legal certainty and ensure a balance between creditor protection and market functionality.
This study examines the spatial interactions between microbiological indicators and environmental factors, including water flow characteristics, in the coastal wetlands of Chabahar Bay, Iran, to assess ecological risks and guide conservation strategies. The objectives are to quantify Total Coliforms (TCs) and Fecal Coliforms (FCs) at six sampling stations and identify key environmental drivers of microbial proliferation through qualitative analysis. Field sampling was conducted over three days in October 2018 at six stations along a river feeding Chabahar's coastal wetland. Water samples were collected during low tide. In-situ measurements of temperature, pH, humidity, and electrical conductivity were recorded. Microbiological analyses quantified total and fecal coliforms using the Most Probable Number (MPN) method. Total Organic Carbon (TOC) was measured using standard laboratory procedures, and Total Organic Matter (TOM) was determined by the loss-on-ignition method. Duplicate samples ensured data reliability, and data normality was tested with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Descriptive statistics, graphical methods, and matrix analysis assessed relationships between TCs, FCs, temperature, pH, EC, TOC, and TOM. TC counts peaked at S2 (1500 MPN/100 ml), exceeding Iranian Class 2 water quality standards (1500 MPN/100 ml), with FCs detected only at S2 (900 MPN/100 ml) and S3 (23 MPN/100 ml). Temperature ranged from 30.6 degrees C (S6) to 35.9 degrees C (S1), showing an inverse relationship with coliform levels. EC ranged from 1900 to 24,610 mu S/cm, displaying a strong inverse correlation with TCs and FCs due to salinity-induced osmotic stress. TOC and TOM peaked at S3-S4 (TOC: 2.8-3.2%; TOM: 5.1-6.0%), correlating inversely with TCs and FCs, suggesting microbial competition. pH (7.71-8.06) showed no significant correlation with coliform levels. Matrix analysis confirmed a high correlation between total and fecal coliforms (p < 0.05), with temperature and pH as independent factors. Sewage inputs at S2 drive significant microbial contamination, with coarse sediments and optimal temperatures facilitating coliform proliferation, while high EC and organic matter in mangrove zones (S3-S4) reduce coliform levels through osmotic stress and microbial competition. Mangroves at S4-S5 act as effective biofilters, mitigating contamination. These findings underscore the need for targeted sewage control and mangrove conservation to protect Chabahar Bay's wetlands from ecological risks. Future research should examine seasonal variations and additional pollutants to improve management strategies.
