There are many factors that can make marine navigation a risky business, and despite the skill of some sailors and their ability to reduce these risks, the weather remains one of the risk factors that may exceed the ability and skill of sailors, as bad weather and difficult weather conditions can cause Ships and boats capsize, drift off course, or collide with other ships and objects, so knowing what kind of weather is coming is very important in making marine navigation safer.
Here, the importance of forecasting the weather in advance appears, which helps greatly in preventing accidents that lead to losses in trade and cargo shipments, material damage, human injuries, and even deaths, and although forecasting the weather on sea routes is difficult, prediction is made by qualified experts. It can help ships and their crews navigate better and make decisions that reduce risk.
Weather at sea
The weather at sea differs from the weather on land, as there are many driving forces that affect the movement of ships, including:
Winds: Winds are among the main driving forces for ships at sea, including the trade winds that blow westward in the tropical oceans, and the westerly winds that blow eastward in mid-latitudes.
Surface Ocean Currents: Winds create surface ocean currents by pushing water, such that these currents move clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Marine eddies: There are also smaller water currents moving on the edges of the main currents, called gyres.
Border currents: These currents generate and influence much of the marine weather we see across the world's oceans. The Gulf Stream is a boundary current, as it travels from the Gulf of Mexico along the eastern coast of the United States and Canada, crossing the ocean to the British Isles.
Sea waves: The weather produces waves and swells that have a significant impact on ships and marine navigation. Swells are groups of large, powerful waves caused by winds and storms. Ships at sea may encounter unusually large waves among smaller waves, which can cause a lot of damage.
Hurricanes: The waves and winds that occur together during storms are very dangerous, which are called hurricanes. Hurricanes are very large and destructive storms, accompanied by high-speed winds that revolve around a quiet center called the eye of the hurricane. Predicting the formation, strength, duration, and course of a hurricane is an important part of marine forecasting.
Marine accidents that can be caused by weather conditions. Maritime weather is difficult to predict, but predicting it gives sailors and navigation crew the ability to make better decisions about safe routes that can be crossed. High winds, storms, waves or swells are among the most important types of weather that can cause marine accidents. Any of these types of weather can cause ships to roll significantly, which in turn can lead to accidents on board, damage to cargo and equipment, and falls into the water. Ships can also be derailed by bad weather, which can lead to serious accidents, such as running aground in shallow waters or on coral reefs, which can damage ships, throw crew members overboard, and even cause shipwreck. Weather can cause a ship to collide with another ship or with an object such as a bridge.
Marine weather forecasting methods
Marine weather forecasting can be done in several ways:
Satellites:
They are important for tracking weather across oceans and other bodies of water. There are special satellites for meteorology and tracking weather, including those that revolve around the Earth's poles, fixed satellites that monitor only one part of the Earth's surface, and satellites that orbit the entire planet. Satellites can collect information about clouds, air and water temperature, currents, dust storms, ice coverage, and many other things.
Weather buoys:
There are two types of weather buoys. A moored weather buoy is a fixed device that can be attached to one part of the ocean to collect weather information there. There are also floating weather buoys that track the weather as it moves across the oceans. There are currently more than 1,000 weather buoys around the world, which help to better forecast marine weather.
Information from weather stations and satellites is used by meteorologists and computer programs to model currents and winds, track temperatures and storms, and predict what weather will happen next, where it will happen, and how it might affect ships in the oceans.
