Installation of Automatic Weather Station onboard Voluntary Observing Ship
The Hong Kong Observatory maintains a close cooperative relationship with the shipping community. Each year, we extend invitations to Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) operators to assist in the deployment of drifting buoys in the South China Sea, enabling us to gather valuable oceanographic observations. Recognising the community’s desire to ensure shipping safety, we have been working hard to acquire more real-time ship observations. In a successful pilot project conducted in March 2023, the first European Universal Automatic Weather Station (EUCAWS) was installed on the VOS "ZIM Charleston" operated by Seaspan Ship Management Ltd. Subsequently, a self-assembled shipborne automatic weather station (HKOAWS) developed by our technical staff originally for the deployment on fishing vessels over the South China coastal waters was extended to selected HKVOS, and was first installed on the VOS "TS Shenzhen" operated by Fleet Management Limited in May 2023.
In 2024, we sustained our efforts and established cooperation agreement with a new shipping company, Wah Kwong Ship Management (Hong Kong) Limited. In February, another shipborne HKOAWS was successfully installed on their vessel "Sabrina". The HKOAWS utilises BeiDou satellite transceivers to collect real-time meteorological observations including wind speed, wind direction, atmospheric pressure, air temperature and relative humidity. The AWS provides frequently updated marine meteorological observations over data spare oceans which are useful for monitoring marine weather. Thanks to the support of HKVOS for contributing to data collection and sharing of real-time marine meteorological observations for the shipping community.
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Figure 1. Installation of the HKOAWS on the vessel “Sabrina”. |
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Cheung Wing Kai, Chow Chi Kin