The WMO Voluntary Observing Ships' Scheme.

Abstract

The international scheme under which ships plying the various oceans and seas of the world are recruited for taking and transmitting meteorological observations is known as the WMO Voluntary Observing Ships’ Scheme. The forerunner of the scheme dates back to 1853, the year in which delegates of 10 maritime countries came together at a conference in Brussels, on the initiative of Lieutenant Matthew F. Maury, then director of the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office, to discuss the establishment of a uniform system for the collection of meteorological and oceanographic data from the oceans and their use for the benefit of shipping. In the twentieth century, the system was recognized in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)as amended, which specifies in Regulation 5 of Chapter V — Safety of navigation — that ‘the Contracting Governments undertake to encourage the collection of meteorological data by ships at sea and to arrange for their examination, dissemination and exchange in the manner most suitable for the purpose of aiding navigation’.