“As a global container logistics company, our vessels form a vital role in keeping supply chains moving safely and timely. Helping weather forecasting and climate science advance makes great sense to us, since both of these areas affect our operations in various ways,” Aslak Ross, Maersk’s Head of Marine Standards, commented.

Maersk already has many vessels contributing to the VOS. The newly expanded commitment will see the participation of its entire fleet by the end of 2020. The data recorded helps meteorologists create more precise weather and storm forecasts-and will also be used to create atmosphereocean models that will help scientists better understand climate change.

While scientists have been collecting and sharing observations of the weather and ocean conditions around the world for over 150 years , technological advances have increased significantly the amount of information that can be shared.

The first five Maersk vessels that participate in the VOS program are equipped with a more advanced type of AWS, called the European Common Automatic Weather Station (EUCAWS), to obtain more data with greater precision.

A minimum of 50 such stations are expected to be operating on Maersk vessels by the end of 2020, delivering the largest AWS fleet from a single company.

As the largest container ship fleet operator in the world, Maersk is projected to contribute substantially to increasing the volume and consistency of data accessible to the report.

Maritime Business World