Even there can still be some minor discrepancy in the numbers, depending on the information source used, more than seven hundred ocean-going vessels are scraped every year. In most cases, this process takes places somewhere on the seashore of the Indian area.

It should be noted, however, that the vessels normally have different hazardous materials contained in their structure; also, these substances can exist within the wastes generated by the vessel during the passages. Since the process of scraping is traditionally manual, this means that the people involved are in danger.

In fact, there was not too much of attention paid to the shipbreaking problem in the past, and only some ten years ago the relative international treaty was released and ratified to target the potential harm to the people as well as the marine environment, considering the pollution.

The efforts made by the industry professionals to regulate same through the Basel Convention have eventually led to the absolutely different opinions on the applicability of the subject document. The second big success was the presentation and adoption of the Hong Kong Convention to help implement the effective controls.

The main intention of the author of this publication developed and officially released by the HSBA, standing for the Hamburg School of Business Administration, was to provide the shipping industry with the single source of reference on the subject matter.

The content of the document was built around the possible results of the autonomous shipping as well as the ongoing digitalization taking place within the today’s international maritime shipping industry, including both practical consequences of same, and the potential social impacts.

The idea was to give people a compact book that would serve as a good basic, something to start with, and with this knowledge they could get prepared for the further discussions. It should help interested readers to properly define the fundamental proceedings along with the other transformation of vessel operations, introduction of the ROCS, i.e. Remote Operating Centers, constantly increasing autonomy etc.

The text of the volume will let you better prepare to discuss the subject topics in a perfectly structured manner and having much better understanding of the material. Recommended to the people keeping themselves in line with the latest developments in the field of marine transportation.

In discussing the components of the earth's crust, it is important to distinguish between rocks and minerals. A mineral is a naturally occurring crystalline substance of a definite range of chemical composition. A rock is a mixture of minerals, usually in the form of grains that may be easily visible or microscopic. The most common rock minerals are silicates-crystalline compounds composed largely of silicon in chemical combination with aluminium, magnesium, oxygen, and other common elements.

Igneous rocks are those that cool and solidify from a molten state. They are classified by chemical composition and grain size. These characteristics, in turn, depend on the elements present in the magma and on how long they cool-the longer the cooling time, the larger the crystals.

Rocks that are exposed at the surface of the earth are subject to weathering by climatic agents, especially water. Water breaks down solid rock by changing it chemically, by dissolving some of its minerals, by supporting the growth of plants and animals that grow on and around rock, and by freezing and expanding to wedge the rock apart. Running water then carries fragments of rock and soil to sedimentary basins-low places where sediments can accumulate, sometimes to a depth of several miles. The weight of the accumulating sediments compresses and bonds the deeper beds into layers of sedimentary rock.

Any type of rock that is buried deeply enough or otherwise subjected to great pressure, stress, or heat can become transformed both chemically and physically into another kind of rock: metamorphic rock. For instance, shale, a crumbly sedimentary rock made of clay, can be changed by heat and pressure into hard metamorphic slate. Slate, or any other rock, can in turn be heated until it melts and then cooled into fresh igneous rock, or it can be broken down by weathering so that it contributes to the formation of new sedimentary rock. The principles involved in the transformation of one type of rock into another are illustrated by the rock cycle.

Two of the most important characteristics of sedimentary rocks, attributes that are rarely found in igneous and metamorphic rock, are their porosity and permeability.

Porosity is the amount of empty space present within the rock; it is usually expressed as a percentage of total rock volume.

Permeability is a measure of the ease with which a fluid flows through the connecting pore spaces of a rock; the more connections between pores, the higher the permeability.

Porosity and permeability are of supreme importance to the geologist in determining whether a body of rock can contain petroleum and whether that petroleum can be extracted and brought to the surface.

The title by Don Casey, the author of the Sailboat Refinishing and This Old Boat titles, deserves special attention due to the amount of the useful and practical information it provides to the boat owners. Full of clear explanations of the different electrics related topic, and clear images illustrating same, the volume will be of great help to the people willing to know how the equipment should be installed, connected, operated and maintained on the boat.

The coverage includes the entire electrical system of the craft. The volume is considered one of the must-have ones on the shelf of any boat owners, forming an integral part of his or her library. One could treat the title as a perfect intro and dictionary to the subject of the marine electric wiring. It contains everything, from theory and terminology to the practical tips, particularly valued by the sailors, and will let you know much more than you ever knew about the electricity on your sailboat.

Note that it will be even more liked by the people preferring the do-it-yourself style, due to the step by step instructions and clear explanations of any topic. In fact, the author wrote it not only for the sailboat owners, but also keeping in mind all other boat types, so there is no limitation as such at all.

Here is one of the most popular titles on the subject of Ocean. It is one of the parts of the world famous series developed specifically for the younger people willing to know more. This is a truly ground-breaking encyclopedia containing all information one would need, presented in a perfectly fascinating way which gained it so much of popularity.

The text of the publication is full of interesting facts, supplemented with the informative timelines and charts, covering huge number of topics. Apart from that, there are many images, all of them detailed and colorful, included to make the reading process more enjoying, and the understanding much more easy.

The author even applied a 3D approach to presenting images. Thoroughly checked prior to release by the recognized experts, the Encyclopedia was appreciated by all readers. You will find information about the sea creatures and ocean science, maps and environments, animals and so many other areas.

Not only will this one be the best choice for your kinds, but you will also have nice time reading it and getting to know things you hardly knew before. In short, this is an easy and enjoyable reading for all those interested in the seas and oceans of the world.

The young earth's molten surface was in constant motion, like the lava in an active volcano today. As a solid crust began to form, it was carried about on the surface by the moving magma beneath. Although this crust has grown thicker and stronger over time, it is still in motion atop the moving mantle.

The crust is divided by a world-wide system of faults, trenches, and mid ocean ridges into six major plates and many minor plates that fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, as you can see on the image.

These plates, however, move and change shape. In some places, they slide past one another; in others, they collide or move apart. The theory that explains how these processes work to shape the crust is called plate tectonics.

The earth's surface consists of two kinds of crust. Oceanic crust is thin (about 5 to 7 miles) and dense. The rock that makes up the continents, however, is thick (10 to 30 miles) and relatively light. A continent rises high above the surrounding oceanic crust and extends deeper into the mantle-like an iceberg in a frozen-over sea.

Sometimes a plate splits and begins moving apart. This is the way ocean basins are formed. The picture on the left shows a rift forming in the middle of a continent. As the two parts of the continent pull away from each other, magma rises from the mantle and solidifies in the gap, forming a mid ocean ridge. New crust being thinner but denser than the continents spreads outward between the two "daughter" continents. The Atlantic Ocean was born in just this way about 200 million years ago when North and South America split away from Europe and Africa.

Where plates meet head on, several things can happen. If oceanic crust meets oceanic crust, one plate is subducted that is, it slips beneath the edge of the other plate and descends into the mantle, forming a trench in the ocean floor. The descending plate is melted by the hot mantle in the subduction zone. Some of its minerals melt at lower temperatures than others and rise through the crust as magma, which may either cool and solidify within the crust, forming igneous rock such as granite, or reach the surface as volcanic lava.

If one of the converging plates is made up of continental crust, it overrides the heavier oceanic plate, which bends downward in a trench along the continental margin. When this happens, magma from the descending plate may erupt in continental volcanoes like Mount St. Helens. If both of the plates are continental, the collision buckles and folds the rocks including the sedimentary rocks at the edges of the continents-into great mountain ranges like the Himalayas.

This perfectly handy and practical reference source is a real treasure for all owners of the powerboats and sailing boats who are in need of the compact and informative how-to guide covering the important aspects of both inland and coastal cruising. Written by a team of the sailing professionals, who also released the famous Good Boatkeeping, the title will tell you about virtually all situations that you can get in during your voyage.

Just read the book attentively and you may consider yourself ready to start. Among the topics covered by the authors there are reading the nautical charts and understanding them, making a plot of your course, knowing how to anchor and dock your craft in the safest possible way, how to negotiate traffic and communicate with the shore as well as with the other boats around, etc. the due attention was given to the hazards one can encounter, and how to avoid them.

Apart from the theoretical part, there are so many practical tips and hints, and we dare say that they made it much easier to get the answers to the most important questions that the beginner boat sailors traditionally have. In short, this is definitely one of the more accessible and practically useful guides of all those available today for the boaters.

The present publication was prepared and released with the ultimate intention to provide all people engaged in the international maritime transportation of the hazardous and dangerous cargoes with the single unit containing the descriptions of all necessary technical terminology.

It is a truly unique and highly usable reference and training resource to be used at all times by the shippers for the quick and correct identification of the materials they carry. This knowledge and understanding is absolutely necessary to make sure that the appropriate safety precautions are in place. The volume has already proven very useful for the professionals representing not only technical, but also commercial parties.

We all know that the terms used today can be quite vague and sometimes even confusing so that the grey areas arise, that may potentially lead to the ambiguities and even dangerous situations on board, with the potential risks to the human lives, safety of the vessel and the environment. In fact, this title is the first one to provide people with the accurate and crystal clear explanations and as such shall be readily available to all transporters and shippers of the subject materials.