How weather is forecasting benifical for captains of ship?
Answers
Answer:
Marine weather forecasting is the process by which mariners and meteorological organizations attempt to forecast future weather conditions over the Earth's oceans. Mariners have had rules of thumb regarding the navigation around tropical cyclones for many years, dividing a storm into halves and sailing through the normally weaker and more navigable half of their circulation. Marine weather forecasts by various weather organizations can be traced back to the sinking of the Royal Charter in 1859 and the RMS Titanic in 1912.
The wind is the driving force of weather at sea, as wind generates local wind waves, long ocean swells, and its flow around the subtropical ridge helps maintain warm water currents such as the Gulf Stream. The importance of weather over the ocean during World War II led to delayed or secret weather reports, in order to maintain a competitive advantage. Weather ships were established by various nations during World War II for forecasting purposes, and were maintained through 1985 to help with transoceanic plane navigation.
Voluntary observations from ships, weather buoys, weather satellites, and numerical weather prediction have been used to diagnose and help forecast weather over the Earth's ocean areas. Since the 1960s, numerical weather prediction's role over the Earth's seas has taken a greater role in the forecast process. Weather elements such as sea state, surface winds, tide levels, and sea surface temperature are tackled by organizations tasked with forecasting weather over open oceans and seas. Currently, the Japan Meteorological Agency, the United States National Weather Service, and the United Kingdom Met Office create marine weather forecasts for the Northern Hemisphere.
Answer:
Weather routing is far more than the TomTom of the high seas. Plotting a course from A to B is not so hard. The hard thing is to develop an optimum track for any particular ocean voyage, based on weather forecasts, sea conditions, the ship’s individual characteristics and cargo; below- and on deck. Within specific limits of weather and sea conditions, the term optimum can mean maximum safety and crew comfort, as well as minimum fuel consumption, minimum time underway, ETA / Lay-can or any desired combination of these factors.
Benefits of weather routing with Optimum Ship Routing
Weather has a very significant effect on the shipping and offshore industry. Vessels encountering heavy weather will experience speed reduction due to increased resistance from wind and waves. In addition, heavy weather poses a safety risk to the crew, as well as to the ship itself from excessive ship motion, slamming or seas washing over the decks. When ships enter gale force or higher wind fields this strongly impacts the ability for the master to maneuver the vessel.
Optimum ship routing is the art and science of developing the “best route” for a ship based on the existing weather forecasts, ship characteristics, and cargo requirements. For most voyages this will mean the minimum transit time, and so least cost while avoiding significant risks to the vessel, crew and cargo. The goal is not to avoid all adverse weather but to find the best balance to minimize time of transit and fuel consumption without placing the vessel at risk to damage or crew injury. The savings in operational cost come about by reducing transit times, fuel consumption and cargo and hull damage as well as more efficient scheduling of dockside activities. Additional savings come from increasing the service life of the vessel and reduced insurance costs.