Twelfth Meeting of the Liaison Group for the Shipping Community
30 November 2021
Members of the Hong Kong Observatory Liaison Group for the Shipping Community met for the twelfth time at the annual meeting on 26 November 2021. A total of 22 representatives from shipping companies, container terminal operators, the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, the Hong Kong Pilots Association Ltd. and the Marine Department attended the meeting.
Dr. Cheng Cho-ming, Director of the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), presented awards to a number of Hong Kong voluntary observing ships (HKVOS) in recognition of their outstanding efforts in taking weather observations at seas in 2020. Twelve ships, namely, APL Singapura, Dapeng Moon, Dapeng Star, Dapeng Sun, Maersk La Paz, Min Lu, Min Rong, Shen Hai, Silvermine, SuperStar Aquarius, YM Warmth and YM Wholesome received the “Diamond Award” for having contributed 500 or more weather reports last year. MOL Beyond, OOCL Chongqing, OOCL Korea, OOCL Utah, Yutai Breeze received the “Platinum Award” (400+ reports contributed), whereas OOCL Dalian, OOCL London, OOCL New York, OOCL Tokyo, Star Pisces and Yutai Ambitions received the “Gold Award” (300+ reports contributed). Dr. Cheng also presented certificates of appreciation to OOCL Busan and OOCL Guangzhou for their assistance in deploying five drifting buoys in the western North Pacific and the South China Sea in 2020 to enhance ocean observation during the typhoon season.
During the meeting, the shipping community was briefed on the latest developments of the services provided by HKO. Among other items, the Observatory would further enrich the product suite available from “MyOceanWx On Demand”, HKO’s marine weather information delivery service, and continue to upgrade the meteorological equipment onboard HKVOS for enhanced automation of weather data collection and dissemination.
