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ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ Maritime Centre

Research themes

The GMC acts as an umbrella for the benefit of all maritime research at the University of ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ, encouraging its growth, expansion and success, in partnership with external partners and organisations.

Research themes represented by the GMC include:

Coastal communities, fisheries and conservation

Applied research on small-scale fisheries, aquaculture, responsible tourism and value-chains for the sustainable development of coastal communities and for the conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems.

For example:

In the projects (e.g. , ) have explored how responsible tourism can be used as a vehicle for sustainable development of small-scale fishing communities, both in Europe and the Caribbean.

The , particularly the Food and Marketing Department, have conducted projects such as:

  • ;
  • ;
  • (fisheries sector study);
  • Development of Brand Name Strategies by Seafood Producer Groups in Vietnam, and the

Maritime safety, security and welfare

Providing expertise and tools to improve the safety, security  and welfare of seafarers, passengers and coastal populations, particularly in relation to evacuation procedures.

For example:

The Fire Safety Engineering group have carried out multiple projects including:

  • : An ambitious project aiming to collect human performance data in full scale ship trials and use this to provide calibration and validation data for ship based evacuation models and to also propose and investigate additional benchmark scenarios to be used in certification analysis.
  • Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers for the Royal Navy: The design of the aircraft carriers to ensure that it would be possible to safely evacuate crew from the aircraft carriers.  This project was supported by BAE Systems under contract to the MoD.
  • Evacuation capabilities of HMS Victory in dry dock: This project was funded by the MoD and used to assess the safety of people on-board the Victory, in particular for a proposed banquet to be held on the ship for VIPs.

In addition to the projects listed there are also a range of You Tube videos depicting work that has been carried out as part of this research theme:

There are also PhD projects in the area of maritime security in the (in collaboration with other departments) including:

  • Maritime frameworks in the East African Community
  • Seafarers rights in China
  • Maritime security and boundaries in the Gulf of Guinea
  • Maritime security arrangements in West and East Africa
  • International regulations of private maritime security companies
  • The standards of training of ships crews for maritime security

In the projects in the area of maritime welfare include 'Gender and empowerment of women in multinational-crewed environments', and PhD projects include:

  • Women's contribution to social cohesion in fishing communities along the English Channel
  • Seafarers welfare in Nigeria - looking at on-board and shore-based welfare services
  • Impact of cruise shipping to island economy in Madeira

Maritime governance, policy, law

Understanding policy and governance initiatives and legal frameworks for the sea, from both historical and current perspectives.

For example:

Recent book projects on maritime governance from the include 'The End of the Grotian Era', dealing with the development of ocean governance since the middle of the 17th Century through to the foreseeable future. Professor Steven Haines has published extensively on issues relating to governance, law and the sea.


Maritime history, heritage and the arts

Exploring of the importance of the ocean, seas and estuaries from a heritage and historical perspective, including naval and environmental history, and exploring, supporting and creating representations of the maritime world in literature and art

For example:

In the projects have explored:

  • The governance of the using oral histories
  • Running the River Thames: London, Stakeholders and the Environmental Governance of the River Thames, 1960-2010
  • was a creative photo project by the University of ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ aimed at revealing the cultural values of inshore fishing (part of the project Geography of Inshore Fishing and Sustainability). See also this , within .

The GMC also regularly features maritime artists on our website to support and promote maritime representation in the arts.


Digital technology and mapping

Providing digital technology and mapping solutions to maritime issues, such as in shipping and historical projects.

For example:

(g3), part of Department of Computing and Information Systems, has been analysing the movement of ships within the Solent, with implications for security and port design.

The (CMRG), a research group within the Department of Mathematics, has been using advanced digital technologies that can predict stress in complex solid structures, to help with the restoration of the Cutty Sark and (Heroine of Dunkirk). They have also been using digital techniques, that are usually used to design racing yachts, for interpreting British and French ship designs from 16th century.