The attractive characteristics of polyester-glass composites have led to their use in many industries, but using them as structural elements requires knowing their mechanical properties. This paper presents processing methods of polyester and glass scrap and their use in the production of new composites. This scrap, called the recyclate, was pre-crushed, ground, and then passed through sieves to obtain the desired fractions. Composite materials with added recyclate were made by hand lamination. Composites were made and then used to conduct appropriate tests to determine the degree of cure of the resin, and to determine the effect of the polyester- glass recyclate content on the hardness of composites. For this purpose, rectangular panels with a thickness of g = 8 mm were produced by manual lamination. Each plate contained 0% glass mat, 10% resin, and 20% recyclate with granulation ≤ 1.2 mm and ≤ 3 mm. Then, test samples were formed from each plate. Hardness measurements were performed using the ball-pressing method. In addition, structural studies were carried out to determine the correlation between the structural and mechanical properties of the discussed materials. The obtained test results showed that the recyclate content and its granulation clearly affected the mechanical properties of the tested composite materials.

Seaborne shipping must often cope with issues related to planning, ship scheduling, and arranging crews and optimal shipping routes between ports. Human resources departments typically plan ship crew shifts with regards to the seafarers’ right to vacation days. It is difficult to harmonize all the requirements and to satisfy both the seafarers and the company. Ideally, arrangements are made for the crewmember to sign off upon completion of a contract, with the vessel being at a port convenient to change the crew at a minimum cost. The latter may vary greatly, depending on the size of the crew to be replaced, the distance of the port from the crew destination, and the available taking-over crew at a specific place and time, etc. In these situations, linear programming (LP) is frequently used as a mathematical method to determine the optimal results. This study suggests the use of a linear-binary programming model in LINGO software to arrange the ship’s crew change schedule.

As part of this research, an experimental model of an unmanned ship equipped with an ecological electric drive was built. Ultimately, the ship model was equipped with an on-board computer with appropriate software for autonomous control. A computer simulator was used to test the control software. This article presents the concept of such a simulator, a general mathematical model of the movement dynamics of an unmanned vehicle, a description of the propulsion system, and the tasks planned for implementation in a computer simulator.

This study aims to identify and quantify the economic benefits of eliminating collisions between two transport systems: rail and inland waterway transport. The collision between transport systems is caused here by the obsolete structure of a railway drawbridge, which constitutes an element of the railway line used by freight and passenger transport and is located on the main inland waterway used by inland waterways freight transport. Railway transport results in limitations of inland waterway transport and, vice versa, inland waterways transport blocks railway transport during lifting of the bridge span. In the case of railway transport, the low capacity of the single-track railway bridge constitutes an additional limitation of the development of transportation. There are plans to eliminate the collision in the regional transport system by constructing a new railway bridge in place of the old drawbridge. The effects of the transportation infrastructure improvement were measured directly for both rail and inland water freight systems as well as the result of the interaction between passenger rail and car and bus transport. In order to compare the different types of impact, the effects of different actions were valued in monetary terms. The planned intervention, as investigated here, will lead to reductions in the cost of time of inland waterways freight transport and costs of time of rail passenger and freight transport and a decrease in the external costs of transport. This will make possible transportation services that are both cheaper and more reliable.

The aim of this paper is to identify and quantify the direct economic effects resulting from navigational restoration of the Dąbie Lake inland fairway, a part of the West Pomeranian region (PL) transport system that runs across the Dąbie Lake. This narrow and shallow inland fairway constitutes the bottleneck for inland waterway freight transport, which must therefore use the sea fairway and thereby incur extended time, increased cost, and reduced efficiency of inland waterway transport. The paper’s second section presents the transport and microeconomic effects that restoring the fairway’s navigability across Lake Dąbie would have on the inland navigation system, thereby increasing the capacity, effectiveness, and safety of inland waterways freight traffic. Restoration of the inland fairway would significantly reduce generalized and external costs of inland waterways transport.

The paper analyzes the influence of air mass movement on moving (the leeway) surface water in the Świnoujście– Szczecin fairway region on the Szczecin Lagoon. The Szczecin Lagoon includes waters of the Odra River estuary (Poland’s second largest river) and the southern Baltic Sea. To calculate the leeway parameters, a relevant surface drifter was outlined and constructed. The data on the leeway of the drifter was obtained from in-situ experiments conducted on the Szczecin Lagoon in the summer of 2018. In turn, the air mass movement data was recorded at meteorological stations in Trzebież and Świnoujście. A statistical analysis of the leeway parameters of the drifter was also presented. Distributions of the leeway and wind speeds in the Świnoujście– Szczecin fairway regions were established. Moreover, linear regressions between the leeway and wind parameters were performed by decomposing the leeway into its downwind and crosswind components for each 10-minute sample. It is worth highlighting that relationships between these components of the leeway and wind parameters were studied for weak, medium, and stronger winds. This research may be useful for increasing navigation safety in the Świnoujście–Szczecin fairway regions on the Szczecin Lagoon.

Nowadays, seaports are not only important links between land and sea transport chains, but also serve as logistics centres. Due to their nature, they have an impact on environments both near and far, which requires the implementation of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept. In practice, this primarily means taking into account stakeholder expectations in planning and implementing marketing strategies. CSR is becoming the subject of interest not only for major seaports but also smaller ports with regional significance. The Port of Gdansk is the largest in Poland and one of the largest in the Baltic Sea Region, and it therefore plays a significant role in the region’s development. The aim of this article is to define the CSR areas of the Port of Gdansk Authority S.A., and the socially responsible tasks undertaken by port operators and the whole port service centre under the name of the Port of Gdansk.

The European river cruise market is the leading cruise market in the world and is also one of the fastest growing tourism segments in Europe. However, the demand structure of the European river cruise market has seen significant changes over recent years, and the aim of the studies described in this article was to identify the determinant factors and the ensuing changes in supply and demand within this market. The primary trend observed was a shift in demand, as the share of tourists from outside Europe has been growing with the share of Europeans (to date, the main group of customers) shrinking. These changes are attributable to social, economic, political, and technical factors that have resulted, in particular, in changes in river cruise passengers’ preferences, which in turn have led to specific reactions by river cruise operators. The analyses have shown that river cruise passengers, who are seem increasingly interested in being educated about the local culture, traditions, ecology, wildlife, arts, foods, and history, expect that the river cruise offer will be extended to include new destinations. They also expect an extended offer of wellness-related services and more active river cruises, as well as high-quality passenger space on board ship. In response, European river cruise operators have developed a cruise network and a fleet of river cruise vessels based on these emerging river cruise markets and increased the diversity and comprehensiveness of their offered services. The evolution of the European river cruise market will also constitute a challenge for emerging river cruise destinations, which will need to meet the changing expectations of both passengers and operators.

The paper examines the classical problem of optimization of the size of a delivery to a warehouse. Using a model developed by the author, simulations were conducted using data obtained from companies in Poland. The results revealed that the impact of this optimization on the economic efficiency of an enterprise can be considerable in some cases. It is difficult, however, to develop an appropriate mathematical formula for solving such a problem. The use of a simulation seems to be more appropriate for solving this problem than optimization models.

Inland ports in Europe, having undergone transformation for several decades, have become multifunctional economic spaces. Currently, these are not only transport nodes in land-water traditional transport chains but today also supply the locations of intermodal terminals, distribution centers, service and production companies, or technology parks. Multifunctional inland ports also form part of the economic systems of cities and regions, contributing to their development. The aim of this article is to present the best practices in managing inland ports in Europe. In the article, using the results of research on inland waterway transport, it is pointed out what practices in managing inland ports have led, in many cases, to their increased importance in both multi-branch transport systems and the economic development of cities and regions. The study used literature on the subject, specific information on selected European inland ports, and development strategies for selected regions in Europe, including inland waterway transport. On the basis of the above, best practices leading to the long-term development of inland ports and maximizing the added value arising in their areas were determined.

The Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century (MSR) is one of the two largest and most ambitious projects announced by Xi Jinping in 2013, under the current name, the Belt and Road Initiative. The main aim of this paper is to assess the opportunities and risks of the maritime portion of this project for EU countries. The authors would like to draw the attention of readers to the possible goals behind the MSR, especially now, when numerous doubts connected with the Chinese initiative have risen. The authors analyze the situation and the consequences of the MSR Initiative for European ports and shipping companies, as well as for other infrastructure and sectors connected with seaborne trade as a part of the blue economy. The MSR creates not only opportunities for developing a blue economy in EU countries, but also competitive risks. EU countries should keep in mind the growing importance of the blue economy for China (including marine industries, the exploitation of ocean resources, and services such as tourism and transport), especially since it already currently represents around 10% of Chinese GDP. It is also worth highlighting that the sea lanes of communication from China to Europe through the Malacca-Suez route are among the busiest in the world. Twenty-five percent of world trade passes through the Malacca Strait alone. This should convince EU countries to pay more attention to China’s activity at sea.

The Lower Vistula River is a Polish part of inland waterways E40 that has a comparatively low waterway class (Ib – III; excluding Wloclawek Reservoir part – Va), and projects and works should be undertaken to improve the waterway class conditions. This also depends upon the ratification of the AGN agreement by Poland, which obliges the country to adapt the main waterways to at least the fourth class of navigability. A catalog of investment activities must contain environmental objectives due to the inclusion of Lower Vistula River in the Natura 2000 protected areas network. This research includes an analysis of the impact on the inland waterway transport of the investments included in the Vistula River Basin Management Plans (RBMP). These documents make it possible to rationally manage water resources (also in the waterway transport) and indicate actions aimed at maintaining them for future generations. Therefore, in line with the Water Framework Directive recommendations, all planned investments should have a minimal environmental impact. In the coming years, large-scale infrastructure investments are planned, which will allow the waterway transport conditions to be improved and the environmental goals of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) to be achieved.

River cruising is well developed in Europe, particularly in the western, central, and some southern regions, and river tourism has expanded visibly during the current decade. A number of highly attractive tourist destinations are located upon rivers, the prime rivers used for cruises being the Danube, Rhine, Maine, Elbe, Loire, and Seine. The topic of this paper is an analysis of European river cruising and the determinants affecting this tourist product. In particular, the paper analyses the current state of river cruising in Poland, as well as the threats and opportunities that act as drivers for such cruising activity. This paper aims to identify and rank the main problems facing river cruising in Poland compared with prime destinations in Europe. River cruising has great potential, but it requires the removal of barriers and the addition of primary infrastructure.

In the article, an analysis of the impact of outlays for R&D and intellectual property products on the GDP dynamics in European Union countries from 2009–2018 was made based on a theoretical foundation. Two hypotheses were formulated: (1) The higher the share of outlays for R&D in the GDP, the higher the GDP dynamics; (2) The higher the share of investments in intellectual property products in GDP, the higher the GDP dynamics. The hypotheses were not confirmed by statistical data analysis.

This article presents the participatory budget as a tool to support the sustainable development of a city, and in particular using it as the budgeting model of the city of Szczecin and the effects of using it. Based on a critical literature review, the first part of the article shows the connections between good governance and sustainable development. The meanings of the basic concepts in this respect are presented, as well as a simplified model of the construction of the sustainable development concept. Next, public participation tools were described, and participatory budgeting was defined as one of the tools applied in good governance, constituting the basis of sustainable city development. The latter part of the article describes the models of participatory budgeting based on a literature research and an analysis of selected cases. The second part of the article is of an empirical nature. The results of the literature research are juxtaposed with the management practices of the city of Szczecin, where participatory budgeting has used since 2014. In this part of the article, the qualitative single-case study method was applied to analyse and synthesise the strategic city development directions and participatory budget between 2014 and 2019. Their compliance with the concept of sustainable development was also verified. Finally, conclusions drawn from the performed research are presented.