The objective of this research is to analyse smart technologies implemented in Croatian marinas and their impact upon the safety and service quality improvement, sustainability, and environmental protection, as well as energy consumption and operations optimisation. Key performance indicators and a definition of smart marina concept have been derived based on the smart port concept. The analysis has been conducted on a sample of 78 marinas in six different counties along the Croatian coast. Ultimately, the SWOT analysis has been performed in order to determine the advantages and disadvantages of introducing smart technologies in marina management. The results indicate that the Croatian marinas are undergoing a revolution in terms of facilitating booking management process and achieving greater safety and service quality, but still need to improve in the field of monitoring and controlling nautical tourism impact upon the environment.

The tasks of an officer of the watch (OOW) on complex ships during navigation in coastal areas may be very challenging. Almost all the tasks require substantial information processing and timely decision making. Every distracting element should be avoided during navigation. Every call, made through any communication system, activates a new process that the OOW needs to conduct. The new process may interrupt a previously started task. In case of too many incoming calls, the workload of the OOW may increase significantly, thus, their situational awareness may be compromised and the risk of errors may increase. The objective of this research was to analyze the impact of incoming voice calls on the OOW. The research methods used include a questionnaire survey and a series of interviews with experienced officers. The main outcomes refer to the average frequency of incoming calls, duration of conversations and subjective assessment of their influence. The results indicate that, during one watch, an officer needs to answer 14 calls that last 16.19 min altogether. However, the officers consider 45% of calls made during watch keeping as distracting. A possible call management system with the aim to reduce distractions made by low priority calls is proposed in this paper.

Modern societies, new technical equipment and technology confirm the importance of knowledge acquisition in everyday life, especially in economy. An education system is a non-profit system. Since it strongly affects economic efficiency, its quantification becomes a very complex process. In order to make the quantification process possible, this paper analyses the already existing criteria for measuring efficiency in higher education systems. The already existing models of measuring educational efficiency are universal and do not analyse different professions’ specific qualities. In this paper, models of measuring educational efficiency were analysed separately, whereas their interrelations were not a part of the analysis. A conceptual model of measuring maritime higher education institutions’ (hereinafter: MHEI) efficiency was proposed on the basis of the above-mentioned analysis. All the evaluation criteria relevant for MHEI and their interrelations were determined.

Various activities, whether economic, social, or environmental, exert pressure on a coastal area. The extent of economic activities taking place in coastal regions is continuously increasing, particularly in tourism, maritime transport, port operations, and fisheries and aquaculture. Therefore, the decision to establish activities in a coastal area is complex and requires careful consideration by all stakeholders who use this space, which is potentially one of the most important natural resources for the development of any coastal country. This research is focused on assessing the justification for establishing economic activities in a coastal area, taking into account the interconnection of spatial, safety, environmental, and social factors. Therefore, three possible scenarios have been proposed: the location of the communal port, the location of the nautical port-marina, and the location of the marine entertainment and recreation centre. The goal was to develop a model that would enable the objective assessment and selection of the most suitable activity that would simultaneously benefit society and have the least harmful impact on the environment. Therefore, a multi-criteria analysis was conducted using the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) method. The decision-making process was based on the expert validation of criteria, sub-criteria, and alternatives. An analytical tool called Expert Choice was used to synthesise the results and select the optimal activity. The sensitivity analysis confirmed the stability and reliability of the obtained results, with the AHP method proving to be an effective tool in structuring the decision-making process regarding the establishment of activities in the coastal area. Based on the results of the multi-criteria assessment, planning the establishment of activities is an important precondition for the long-term and sustainable development of coastal activities in an area.

The attractiveness of maritime professions has decreased recently, making the shortage of officers one of the greatest problems of the industry. Working conditions as well as the specific work environment have been identified as the major problem maritime industry has been facing with. Additional problem is the seafarers’ staying in global shipping. The paper has shown the results of the research conducted to determine the reasons why the students enrol at maritime studies, i.e. at nautical studies; what they expect after graduation; how they see their future in maritime industry, and whether they expect to continue working in the maritime industry permanently. The research itself was conducted in four countries’ members of the EU and it lasted for two years. The participants were regular undergraduate students of nautical studies. Statistical analysis was used in the research. Research results show that students choose a career in maritime industry because they think the profession on board will ensure stability and safe future, high paying salary, social status, and prestige. However, most of them want to spend a limited amount of time working on board and continue their career working ashore. All the above issues indicate that the trend of a shortage of qualified seafarers, especially officers, could continue in the future.