Field Studies on Sediment Resuspension Induced by Shipping: Vessel Kinematic Measurements and Water Sampling in the Port of Koper

This article examines the environmental impact of ship and tug propulsion, particularly about the increasing size and power of ships. The global trend in shipping is to maximize the cargo per ship, resulting in larger ship dimensions such as length, width and draft and higher propulsion power for safe manoeuvring. The most important factors involved are the distance of the propeller tip from the seabed, the propeller's diameter and the propulsion power used, all of which contribute significantly to the resuspension of sediments on the seabed. This resuspension is caused by ship propellers and auxiliary drives such as bow and stern thrusters and tugs used during manoeuvres. Sediment resuspension causes several environmental problems, including coastal pollution with heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons and other organic chemicals. As marine biologists have discovered, it also has a detrimental effect on marine life. In addition, the hydrodynamics of a shipping channel are significantly affected by a moving ship, with the waves; generated accelerating coastal erosion and causing structural erosion around piers, negatively impacting marine life. These waves can also impede the manoeuvring or mooring of other vessels in port. This study focuses on a large container ship which, due to its powerful engines and small ratio between propeller diameter and axial distance to the seabed, illustrates the urgency of this problem. The study involves taking discrete water samples of the total sediment mass at three different depths and times along the ship's route and accurately recording the ship's kinematic parameters to recalculate the dynamics of the ship and tug propulsion. The experiment and water sampling will be conducted in Koper's harbour basin I.