Maritime English

Ahli Nautika Tingkat II

Meeting 15:
UNIT 8
Forecast Weather and Oceanographic Conditions
 
A. Synoptic Charts and Weather Forecasting

Instructor:
Oktaviany Ekawanda K., S.S., M.Pd
 Indicator:
Discuss and evaluates the information in shipping forecasts
 Indicator:
Discuss and evaluates the information in any charts and other resources.
Indicator:
Discuss local weather from synopsis and prognosis information received, the movement of
meteorological systems, knowledge of local influences, observation of local conditions and
movement of own ship.
 

Shipping Forecast
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The areas of the Shipping Forecast

The Shipping Forecast is a weather forecast covering the sea around the United Kingdom and
Ireland.[1] It has been broadcast four times a day on BBC Radio 4 since the 1920s.[2] The Met
Office, the UK meteorological centre, produces it for the Maritime Coastguard Agency. The
forecast talks about lots of places, starting with "Viking" in the northeast and going clockwise
around the British coastline until it reaches "Southeast Iceland" in the northwest. Sometimes the
names are changed to keep them the same as in other countries.[3] It is one of the first items on
Radio 4 each day,[4] and has been referenced in many poems and songs,[5] including a poem by
Seamus Heaney[6] and a song by the British band, Blur (This is a Low).

Contents
 1 Protocol
 2 Sailing By
 3 Methods
o 3.1 Navtex
o 3.2 Coastguard
 4 Other forecasts
 5 References
 6 Other websites

Protocol
Word Meaning
Imminent In the next 6 hours[7]
Soon In less than 12 hours
Later After 12 hours time
Backing Going anticlockwise[8]
Veering Going clockwise[8]

There is a strict set of rules (a protocol) on how the forecast is written, and it has a limit of 370
words.[9] It is always said in the same way and is around 9 minutes long.[10] The language of the
forecast is hard to understand unless the listener understands how the rules work. For example:

Dover, Wight, Portland, Plymouth, four or five, increasing six soon, rain or slight
“ drizzle, good. ”
• People listening to the forecast who know the protocol can understand it as
"In the English Channel, there are strong winds, followed by a stronger wind
in less than twelve hours time with some light rain, but good visibility". The
numbers refer to the Beaufort Scale of wind strength. Imminent means
within 6 hours, soon between 6 and 12, and later meaning after 12 hours.
There are lots of other jargon used in the Shipping Forecast.[11]
• Sailing By
• An instrumental piece of music, Sailing By, is played before the 00:45
broadcast of the Shipping Forecast.[12] It acts as a buffer between the news
bulletin and the Shipping Forecast, in order to make the Shipping Forecast
play at exactly the same time each day. This gives the Radio 4 controllers
leeway if the programming of Radio 4 is running late. There was an outcry
when it was temporarily taken off air for two years in 1993. [13] Sailing By was
written by Ronald Binge,[12] in 1962[14] a light music composer.
• Methods
• The Shipping Forecast is broadcast in many different ways, most famously, on
the radio. BBC Radio 4, the radio station that the Forecast is broadcast from
three times a day, can be listened to as far away as Denmark,[15] or can be
listened to anywhere in the world via the BBC's website.
Navtex

A Navtex receiver

An updated Shipping Forecast is broadcast six times a day from three Navtex transmitters placed
strategically around the coast of the United Kingdom, giving information on the areas near to the
transmitter. The three transmitters are called Cullercoats, Niton and Portpatrick,[16] after the
places they are at. Navtex is a type of radio communication that sends a message to a receiver
that picks it up and changes it into text, like to a mobiles' text message. The Navtex messages
can be received up to 270 miles offshore.[17] Navtex is an acronym for NAVigational TEXt
messages.[18] Major areas of general Navtex coverage include the Mediterranean Sea, the North
Sea, Japan and the coasts of North America.[19] Navtex is one of the more common ways of
receiving the Shipping Forecast when off-shore.[20]
• Coastguard
• The Maritime Coastguard Agency sends messages every three
hours from their sixteen stations that are located by the coast.
[21]
They also send important navigational notices [17] and a
forecast that is for the area. The "Maritime Safety
Information" broadcast includes a part of the Shipping
Forecast, specific for the area in question.
• Other forecasts
• There are several related forecasts that are similar to the
Shipping Forecast. The High Seas Forecast is similar to the
Shipping Forecast in format and protocol, but is about the
North Atlantic ocean, or 'Met Area 1'. It can be seen on Radio
4's website. It is also split into lots of areas, and some of them
have the same name as in the Shipping Forecast. [22]
• https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_Forecast
• Activity 1:
• Get the weather forecast from the hydrographic office.
• Analyze the forecast and find the advantages and disadvantages in shipping.
• Present in front of the class.
•  
• Activity 2:
• Read synoptic and prognostic charts and discuss case study similar to the
understanding of synoptic and prognostic charts.
• Present in front the class.
•  
•  Activity 3:
• Discuss the weather forecast from the hydrographic office.
• Analyze the forecast using the movement of meteorological systems,
knowledge of local influences, observation of local conditions and
movement of own ship.
• Present in front of the class.