Weather routeing
Weather routeing is the procedure of ensuring that the ship makes an ocean passage in the least possible time conducive to the safety of the vessel.
Weather conditions can also affect a ship’s navigation, and in 1983, IMO adopted resolution A.528(13), Recommendation on Weather Routeing, which recognizes that weather routeing – by which ships are provided with “optimum routes” to avoid bad weather – can aid safety. It recommends Governments to advise ships flying their flags of the availability of weather routeing information, particularly that provided by services listed by the World Meteorological Organization.
In order to do effective weather routeing the following steps must be considered:
⦁ Ships performance curves must be drawn
⦁ Understand a wave chart
⦁ Draw the shortest possible track
⦁ Obtain the least time track
⦁ Ensure the track is feasible (after considering navigational and safety factors)
Ref: IMO Website & Knowledge of Sea Website
