Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)

Schedules

Second Schedule

Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974

Annex

Chapter V : Safety Navigation

Regulation 4 : Meteorological services

Purchase

(a)

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. Administrations shall encourage the use of instruments of a high degree of accuracy, and shall facilitate the checking of such instruments upon request.

(b)	In particular, the Contracting Governments undertake to cooperate in carrying out, as far as practicable, the following meteorological arrangements:

(i)	To warn ships of gales, storms and tropical storms, both by the issue of radio messages and by the display of appropriate signals at coastal points.

(ii)

To issue daily, by radio, weather bulletins suitable for shipping, containing data of existing weather, waves and ice, forecasts and, when practicable, sufficient additional information to enable simple weather charts to be prepared at sea and also to encourage the transmission of suitable facsimile weather charts.

(iii)

To prepare and issue such publications as may be necessary for the efficient conduct of meteorological work at sea and to arrange, if practicable, for the publication and making available of daily weather charts for the information of departing ships.

(iv)

To arrange for selected ships to be equipped with tested instruments (such as a barometer, a barograph, a psychrometer, and suitable apparatus for measuring sea temperature) for use in this service, and to take meteorological observations at main standard times for surface synoptic observations (at least four times daily, whenever circumstances permit) and to encourage other ships to take observations in a modified form, particularly when in areas where shipping is sparse; these ships to transmit their observations by radio for the benefit of the various official meteorological services, repeating the information for the benefit of ships in the vicinity. When in the vicinity of a tropical storm, or of a suspected tropical storm, ships should be encouraged to take and transmit their observations at more frequent intervals whenever practicable, bearing in mind navigational preoccupations of ships’ officers during storm conditions.

(v)

To arrange for the reception and transmission by coast radio stations of weather messages from and to ships. Ships which are unable to communicate direct with shore shall be encouraged to relay their weather messages through ocean weather ships or through other ships which are in contact with shore.

(vi)	To encourage all masters to inform ships in the vicinity and also shore stations whenever they experience a wind speed of 50 knots or more (force 10 on the Beaufort scale).

(vii)

To endeavour to obtain a uniform procedure in regard to the international meteorological services already specified, and, as far as is practicable, to conform to the Technical Regulations and recommendations made by the World Meteorological Organisation, to which the Contracting Governments may refer for study and advice any meteorological question which may arise in carrying out the present Convention.

(c)

The information provided for in this Regulation shall be furnished in form for transmission and transmitted in the order of priority prescribed by the Radio Regulations, and during transmission “to all stations” of meteorological information, forecasts and warnings, all ship stations must conform to the provisions of the Radio Regulations.

(d)	Forecasts, warnings, synoptic and other meteorological reports intended for ships shall be issued and disseminated by the national service in the best position to serve various zones and areas, in accordance with mutual arrangements made by the Contracting Governments concerned.