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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1976
RADIO WEATHER REPORTS RECEIVED IN HONG KONG ARE IMMEDIATELY RELAYED TO NEIGHBOURING CENTRES IN JAPAN, PEKING AND BANGKOK FOR INFORMATION.
APART FROM ROUTINE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS, DATA ABOUT OCEAN CURRENTS AND THE OCCURRENCE OF SPECIAL PHENOMENA ARE ALSO RECORDED IN THE LOG BOOKS.
COMPLETED LOG BOOKS OF HONG KONG BASED OBSERVING SHIPS WILL BE KEPT BY THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY. CONTENTS THEREIN ARE CAREFULLY CHECKED, EDITTED AND TRANSFERRED TO PUNCH CARDS FOR COMPUTER USE.
+ACCORDING TO AN AGREEMENT OF THE WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANISATION, MR. CHU SAID, THESE MARINE CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA ON PUNCH CARDS ARE EXCHANGED AMONG COUNTRIES ALL OVER THE WORLD.+
LAST YEAR ALONE, ABOUT 50,000 CARDS HAD BEEN RECEIVED BY THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY FROM OTHER WEATHER COLLECTING CENTRES WHILE ABOUT 9,000 CARDS PUNCHED IN HONG KONG WERE DESPATCHED TO OTHER COUNTRIES.
MR. CHU SAID: +THE HISTORY OF MARINE METEOROLOGY, REALLY DATES BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WHEN THE MAIN IMPETUS TO CREATE A METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVING SYSTEM CAME FROM MARINERS WHOSE SAILING OPERATIONS AND INDEED WHOSE VERY LIVES, DEPENDED ON THE VAGARIES OF WEATHER.
+HOWEVER, THE SYSTEM OF VOLUNTARY OBSERVING SHIPS WAS FIRST OPERATED INTERNATIONALLY IN 1874 WHEN AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED AMONG MARINE METEOROLOGICAL EXPERTS FROM 14 COUNTRIES AT A CONFERENCE IN LONDON.
+AND, THERE ARE NOW MORE THAN 7,000 VOLUNTARY WEATHER OBSERVING SHIPS ALL OVER THE WORLD.+
+THE SYSTEM IS VERY GOOD AND IT IS A BENEFIT TO ALL SHIPS BECAUSE IN RETURN OF THE SERVICE WE WILL GET A MORE PRECISE MARINE WEATHER FORECAST.+ REMARKED CAPTAIN M.T. ANDERSON OF PASSENGER LINER +CORAL PRINCESS+, ONE OF HONG KONG'S OBSERVING SHIPS.
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CAPTAIN ANDERSON ALSO URGED MASTERS AND CAPTAINS OF OTHER SHIPS TO JOIN IN THIS SERVICE.
HE SAID: +THERE IS NO HARDSHIP AT ALL OF DOING THIS SERVICE FOR THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY AND IT ONLY TAKES THE OFFICERS A FEW MINUTES TO FINISH ONE ROUTINE OBSERVATION.+
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