With the rapid development of port construction and the shipping industry, port water quality issues are of great concern. This is always a challenging task due to the frequent human activities and dynamic processes involved. A parallel intelligent water quality monitoring system is therefore proposed to ensure the effective monitoring and intelligent control of water pollutants. The real monitoring system and the artificial monitoring system of port water quality are established by applying artificial systems, computational experiments and parallel execution (ACP method). Both systems interact with each other and execute in parallel. The artificial monitoring system simulates complex scenarios, while the real monitoring system feeds the artificial monitoring system with actual monitoring data. By means of data-driven and model-driven approaches, the two systems can compute, observe and evaluate to control, manage and train models. Through the continuous optimization between the two systems, the efficiency and accuracy of the water quality monitoring system could be improved. Technical support can be further provided for the planning of water quality monitoring sites, implementation of monitoring tasks, allocation of emergency resources, etc. As in-situ monitoring data are obtained, computational experiments and parallel executions could be conducted to achieve the ultimate goal of port water quality management.

As an important mode of transportation for the global trade, waterborne transportation has become a priority option for import and export trade due to its large load capacity and relatively low cost. Meanwhile, shipping safety has been highly valued. By collecting technological water traffic accident data from the EM-DAT database, the spatiotemporal distribution and evolution characteristics were investigated in Asia since 2000. The methods of gravity center and standard deviation ellipse analysis were utilized to determine the spatial and data-related characteristics of water traffic accidents. Temporally, the results indicated that accidents occurred most frequently during the seasons of autumn and winter, leading to a significant number of casualties. Spatially, both South-eastern Asia and Southern Asia emerged as regions with a high frequency of water traffic accidents, particularly along the borders of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Bay of Bengal region. In addition, the Daniel trend test and R/S analysis were conducted to demonstrate the evolution trend of accidents across various regions and seasons. The present study provides guidance for improving marine shipping safety, emergency resource management, and relevant policy formulation.

The Pinglu Canal, China’s first strategic river–sea transport canal, connects the inland waterway trunk line with the Beibu Gulf International Hub Port, while a diversion channel extension is needed for port development. This study proposed a comparative study of extension routes to Fangchenggang through qualitative analysis and quantitative modeling. Eventually, Route 4 is selected considering the engineering feasibility, ecological impact, and hydrodynamic modeling. It yields the lowest engineering cost, effectively bypasses the ecological protection red lines and cultural heritage areas, and only intersects the controllable ecological restoration zones in a limited manner. Hydrodynamic results show moderate tidal velocities, with maximum rising and falling speeds of 0.72–0.80 m/s and 0.72–0.86 m/s, respectively. The sediment deposition intensity (0.06 m/a) and total volume (58,600 m³/a) are generally lower than the other alternatives. The comparative study shares useful insights into canal route selection and would support the sustainable development of the logistics transportation system in Southwest China.

Canals have played a significant role in promoting the prosperity of the shipping industry worldwide. Meanwhile, canal construction can alter the hydro-morphodynamic processes in coastal tidal channels. The Fangchenggang Canal is an extension route of the Pinglu Canal, which connects southwestern regions to the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea by cutting across approximately 20 km of intertidal and dry land of the Qisha peninsula. A two-dimensional numerical model based on MIKE21 has been established to investigate the variations of tidal current structures and sediment transport characteristics. The maximum flow velocity within the main channel increases up to 1.18 m/s in the marine section. A bidirectional flow pattern has been observed in the land excavation segment. Numerical simulations of the sedimentation processes demonstrated potential erosion in the land excavation section due to the increased bed shear stress. The present study shares useful insights into the response mechanism of hydro-morphodynamic processes under canal construction. The quantitative simulations would support the environmental assessment and route planning of canal projects.

A large number of river training works have been built in the inland waterway regulation projects to improve ship navigation conditions. However, water damages to river training works happen frequently in practice. Technical status evaluation of river training works is regarded as a fundamental content of inland waterway maintenance. Due to the various influencing factors and complex mechanisms, the content involved in the standard files is recognized as qualitative and no quantitative evaluation method is recommended so far. The technical status of river training works is currently evaluated through on-site investigation which is time-consuming and individual-dependent. By means of multi-source sensors, massive status data of river training works could be obtained instantaneously. Study on the technical evaluation model based on the multi-source information fusion theory attracts more attention in recent years. The classical DS evidence theory could fail as evidence conflict occurs. Thus, the Pearson’s correlation coefficient is calculated and utilized to update the probability distribution in the present study. A novel technical status evaluation model based on the improved DS evidence theory is established. The model is further verified through three case studies of traditional river training works (spur dike and flexible mattress belt) in the Yangtze River, China. The model outputs are consistent with the technical survey reports as well as the published research article. Quantitative and accurate evaluation of river training works could be accomplished by applying the proposed evaluation model. Moreover, the model could be embedded in the Inland Electronic Chart Display and Information System. The present study would provide theoretical basis for inland waterway maintenance and infrastructure monitoring in the future.