Fifteenth Meeting of the Liaison Group for the Shipping Community
19 December 2024
Members of the Liaison Group for the Shipping Community of the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) attended the annual meeting at the Observatory Headquarters on 12 December 2024 with a total of 29 representatives from 19 shipping companies, container terminal operators, the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, the Hong Kong Pilots Association and the Marine Department.
Dr PW Chan, Director of the HKO, remarked at the meeting that the number of Hong Kong Voluntary Observing Ships (HKVOS) has increased in recent years, despite a declining trend in the number of Voluntary Observing Ships worldwide. He presented awards to HKVOS in recognition of their outstanding efforts in conducting marine meteorological observations in 2023. The awardees included China LNG Shipping (International) Co. Ltd., Seaspan Ship Management Ltd., Fleet Management Ltd., Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd. (OOCL), CMA CGM (HK) Ltd. and Maersk Hong Kong Ltd. Dr Chan also presented certificates of appreciation to OOCL for their assistance in deploying five drifting buoys in the South China Sea (SCS) and the western North Pacific (WNP) in 2023 to enhance ocean observations for tropical cyclone monitoring. A certificate of appreciation was also awarded to Wah Kwong Ship Management (HK) Ltd. for installing the HKO's self-assembled ship-borne automatic weather station on their vessel "Sabrina" to collect real-time marine meteorological observations over the northern part of the SCS.
The shipping community was briefed at the meeting on the latest development of the HKO's marine weather services. The "Earth Weather" and "Weather Information for Fishermen" webpages were enhanced with sea current forecasts over the SCS and WNP, and probabilistic forecasts for high seas were added to the "MyOceanWx On Demand" service. Useful services, including a remote barometer comparison check service while vessel berthing at Hong Kong's port and global barometer correction based on VOS reports if HKVOS are not berthing at Hong Kong, were also introduced. The Observatory will continue striving to enhance marine meteorological data in support of marine weather forecast and warning services.
