Ships should not succumb to disasters caused by extreme weather because of the rapid advances in forecasting, a senior meteorological official said on Monday.
Ko Barrett, the deputy secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization, said forecasts for five days were now more accurate than those for three days from the early 1990s.
“Some incidents and accidents will continue to occur, it’s a given,” said Barrett at the start of a four-day conference at the IMO, “Extreme Maritime Weather: Bridging the knowledge gap towards safer shipping”.
“But given the forecasting advances, ships should not succumb to weather disasters nowadays.”
She said questions had to be asked about why a ship was close to the centre of a well-forecast hurricane near the Bahamas last month and how a container ship lost 1,900 boxes owing to parametric rolling in 2020.
The 14,000-teu ONE Apus (built 2019) lost the boxes during severe weather conditions about 3,000 km northwest of Hawaii, its technical manager said at the time.
One ship affected by Hurricane Ernesto last month was a loaded crude tanker that appeared not to take any avoiding action despite days of forecast warnings while travelling from the US to UK, the conference heard.
“This is challenging to still see,” said Joseph Sienkiewicz, of the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
The conference brings together weather and shipping experts to try to minimise damage to ships, cargo and the environment and to protect the seafarers on board those ships.
Barrett highlighted the impact of climate change on rising water levels, damage to ports, and the loss of sea ice that is opening up previously little-used navigation routes.
“Less ice does not mean less danger,” she said.
Barrett highlighted the impact of the Houthi attacks on shipping that had forced many shipping companies to abandon Red Sea voyages and reroute around the Cape of Good Hope.
Severe weather on the route led to a series of container ship incidents that will in 2024 reverse the annual steady decline in containers lost overboard.
IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez said that more losses were being reported because of extreme weather and climate change.
He said the talks should look to help seafarers as they grapple with the increasing digitalisation of on-board weather systems. A survey conducted for the study revealed that 40% of seafarers who responded had not received weather-specific training.
Read more
- Extreme weather brings Cape of Good Hope container ship traffic to a halt
- Tankers return to Texas terminal after storm Beryl swerves south
- Brokers see ‘corrections’ in tanker rates as Hurricane Beryl cuts off crude exports
- Crew of tanker hit by Houthi missile honoured for bravery
- Atlantic MR tanker rates tipped for comeback as hurricane season approaches
