Maritime Transport
Maritime transport includes both freight and passenger transport. Almost 90% of the goods are transported by sea. Demand for transport is growing, which in turn encourages supply chain management developments to remain competitive. The traditional transport service has been supplemented by terminal and warehousing services, agency and chartering, etc., which are closely linked to the digitalisation of maritime transport and the accompanying changes in the functioning of the maritime sector, education and research and development.
The specialists in EMERA have up-to-date knowledge and practical experience that combined allow us to provide research based services for the maritime sector in order to make maritime transportation and its’ digitalisation (e-documents, smart ports) more efficient. To boost the technological advancements and enable the growth in research and development in Estonia and internationally a tenure of Maritime Transport has been created in the spring of 2021.
The research focuses on two main special areas:
- Smart and energy efficient environments. How tightening environmental regulations affect shipping companies, ports and maritime markets? The studies analyse the present shipping business, and study how the new fuels, vessel design and operative changes will affect the shipping business models and operations. Research is multidisciplinary and various methods can be used.
- Future governance. The functioning and competitiveness of shipping companies, port, and maritime sectors in various shipping market situations: cargo and passenger volumes, financial situations, availability of the fleet, even policies and public opinion. This work is closely done with either authorities or companies, and often also directly from their request.
Maritime Transport Research Group
From 01.05.21 Tenured Associate Professor Ulla Pirita Tapaninen, tenure professor of maritime transport, started her work at TalTech Estonian Maritime Academy. Her strengths are her long-standing work experience and cooperation with the shipping industry and the public sector in the Baltic Sea region and wider Europe. She has skillfully used her contacts and cooperation to initiate projects and develop her own research group.
Professor Ulla Tapaninen writes a blog on maritime affairs at ullatapaninen.net, and her book on maritime transport can also be read: Maritime Transport.
In addition, she is active on twitter @utapaninen and LinkedIn.
Members of the research group: Olli-Pekka Hilmola, Jonne Kotta, Secil Gülmez, Mari-Liis Tombak, Andres Laasma, Tõnis Hunt, Riina Otsason, Eliise Toomeoja, Suvi-Tuuli Lappalainen, Kadi Kasepõld, Kristine Carjova, Ekku Heljanko, Kristel Rauk, Kristin Kerem
Doctoral students: Mari-Liis Tombak, Andres Laasma, Suvi-Tuuli Lappalainen, Riina Otsason, Tõnis Hunt, Eliise Toomeoja, Kadi Kasepõld, Ekku Heljanko
Ongoing projects
The main objective is to lay the foundations for a new class of fully electric unmanned aircraft system UWV combining speed, flexibility and energy efficiency.
The project will reduce CO2 emissions from intermodal/multimodal freight flows and developed a digital tool for CO2 reduction measures.
The island ferry traffic forms a unique transport area in the Central Baltic region, as ferry connections between mainland and islands are an important part of the intermodal transport chain linking islands to urban centres.
The project will build a network of excellence between organizations from Baltic Sea Region to enable Baltic Sea maritime transport meet ‘Fit for 55’ regulations in decarbonisation. The BALTIC-FIT will achieve this goal by implementing a three-year Innovation strategy comprising five objectives, which are focused on strengthening the TalTech’s position in the field of maritime decarbonization.