Image of the week : comparative sizes of the world's 12 largest seas

based on IHO boundaries of the seas, and excluded the oceans

The trigonometry of sailing

If you want to sail upwind fast, you better understand Trigonometry.

Find out why in this video by Waterlust.

Russian tanker sails through Arctic without icebreaker for first time

A Russian tanker has carried a cargo from Hammerfest in Norway to Boryeong in South Korea in 22 days, about 30% quicker than the conventional southern shipping route through the Suez Canal

From The Guardian by Patrick Barkham

Climate change has thawed Arctic enough for $300m gas tanker to travel at record speed through northern sea route

A Russian tanker has travelled through the northern sea route in record speed and without an icebreaker escort for the first time, highlighting how climate change is opening up the high Arctic.

The $300m Christophe de Margerie carried a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Hammerfest in Norway to Boryeong in South Korea in 22 days, about 30% quicker than the conventional southern shipping route through the Suez Canal.

The tanker was built to take advantage of the diminishing Arctic sea ice and deliver gas from a new $27m facility on the Yamal Peninsula, the biggest Arctic LNG project so far which has been championed by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

The Christophe de Margerie carried a cargo of liquefied natural gas from Hammerfest in Norway to Boryeong in South Korea in 22 days.

On its maiden voyage, the innovative tanker used its integral icebreaker to cross ice fields 1.2m thick, passing along the northern sea section of the route in the Russian Arctic in a record six-and-a-half days.

“It’s very quick, particularly as there was no icebreaker escort which previously there had been in journeys,” said Bill Spears, spokesperson for Sovcomflot, the shipping company which owns the tanker.
“It’s very exciting that a ship can go along this route all year round.”

© Olga Maltseva/Pool Photo via AP

Environmentalists have expressed concern over the risks of increased ship traffic in the pristine Arctic but Sovcomflot stressed the tanker’s green credentials.
As well as using conventional fuel, the Christophe de Margerie can be powered by the LNG it is transporting, reducing its sulphur oxide emissions by 90% and nitrous oxide emissions by 80% when powered this way.
“This is a significant factor in a fragile ecosystem,” said Spears.

The northern sea route between Siberia and the Pacific is still closed to conventional shipping for much of the year.
But the Christophe de Margerie, the first of 15 such tankers expected to be built, extends the navigation window for the northern sea route from four months with an expensive icebreaker to all year round in a westerly direction.

In the route’s busiest year so far, 2013, there were only 15 international crossings but the Russian government predicts that cargo along this route will grow tenfold by 2020.
This link with the Pacific reduces its need to sell gas through pipelines to Europe.
“There has been a steady increase in traffic in recent years,” said Spears.
“There’s always been trade along this route but it’s been restricted a lot by the ice. It’s exciting that this route presents a much shorter alternative than the Suez route. It’s a major saving.”

Simon Boxall, an oceanographer at the University of Southampton, said that shipping companies were making a “safe bet” in building ships in anticipation that the northern sea route will open up.
“Even if we stopped greenhouse emissions tomorrow, the acceleration in the loss of Arctic ice is unlikely to be reversed,” he said.
“We’ve been able to sail through the north-west passage for several years now but the northern passage, which goes past Russia, has opened up on and off since 2010. We’re going to see this route being used more and more by 2020.
“The irony is that one advantage of climate change is that we will probably use less fuel going to the Pacific.”

While sea ice in the Arctic grows and shrinks with the seasons, there is an overall declining trend, as north pole has warmed roughly twice as fast as the global average.
In March 2017, the annual maximum extent of Arctic sea ice hit a record low for the third straight year, according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre.

The extent of Arctic ice fell to a new wintertime low in March this year after freakishly high temperatures in the polar regions, and hit its second lowest summer extent last September.

Links :

• BBC :  First tanker crosses northern sea route without ice breaker
• TASS : Christophe de Margerie LNG tanker covers Northern Sea Route in record 6.5 days
• NYTimes : Russian Tanker Completes Arctic Passage Without Aid of Icebreakers

The shipping forecast: a map of Britain's splendid isolation

From Bigthink by Frank Jacobs

The Shipping Forecast is quite possibly the most British thing ever.

The general synopsis at midday: High west Sole 1028 expected east Sole 1019 by midday tomorrow. Low southern Portugal 1010 losing its identity.

The area forecasts for the next 24 hours.

Viking, North Utsire: Northwesterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first. Moderate or rough. Occasional rain. Good, occasionally poor.

The Shipping Forecast is quite possibly the most British thing ever.

It’s quirkier than cricket, defiantly old-fashioned and ceremonial, and as reassuringly regular as Big Ben (1).

Produced by the UK’s Meteorological Office, it's broadcast four times a day by BBC Radio Four.

But it is more than mere maritime meteorology.

For over 90 years, the Shipping Forecast has been a punctual reminder of Britain’s island status – a declaration of geopolitical detachment expertly disguised as a weather bulletin. Splendid isolation masquerading as shifting isobars (2). 

And as such, one of the greatest examples of classic British understatement.

If that isn’t an oxymoron.

South Utsire: Northwesterly 5 or 6. Moderate or rough. Occasional rain. Good, occasionally poor. Forties, Cromarty: Northwest 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first. Moderate, occasionally rough in northeast Forties. Rain or drizzle, fog patches developing. Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.

Listing the weather conditions in 31 sea areas surrounding the British Isles, the Shipping Forecast is read out at 5.20 am, 12.01 pm, 5.54 pm and 00.48 am.

The first and last broadcasts of the day also include reports from additional weather stations and inshore waters forecasts.

The last one also includes an outlook for next-day weather across the UK itself.

Forth, Tyne, West Dogger: Westerly or northwesterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first. Slight or moderate. Fair. Good. East Dogger, Fisher, German Bight: Northwesterly 5 or 6. Moderate, occasionally rough. Fair then occasional rain, fog patches later. Moderate or good, occasionally very poor later.

Much of the Forecast’s charm derives from the – literally – outlandish names of the sea areas listed in the bulletin. The names derive from sandbanks (e.g. Dogger, Bailey), estuaries (Forth, Thames, Shannon), islands or islets (Wight, Rockall, Utsire), towns (Dover), or other geographic features (e.g. Malin Head, Ireland’s northernmost point).

Humber, Thames: West or northwest 4 or 5. Slight or moderate. Mainly fair. Good. Dover, Wight, Portland, Plymouth: Variable 3 or 4. Slight. Fair. Good.

One is named FitzRoy, after the captain of HMS Beagle, Britain’s first professional weatherman and the founder of the Met Office.

The southernmost region, Trafalgar is only mentioned standard in the last forecast of the day.

The regions are always listed in the same order, starting north with Viking, between Scotland and Norway, and then proceeding in a roughly clockwise direction:

Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire, Forties, Cromarty, Forth, Tyne, Dogger, Fisher, German Bight, Humber, Thames, Dover, Wight, Portland, Plymouth, Biscay, Trafalgar, FitzRoy, Sole, Lundy, Fastnet, Irish Sea, Shannon, Rockall, Malin, Hebrides, Bailey, Fair Isle, Faeroes and Southeast Iceland.

Biscay: Northeast 4 or 5, increasing 6 at times. Slight or moderate. Fair. Good. Southeast Fitzroy: Northerly or northeasterly 5 or 6, occasionally 7 at first. Moderate or rough. Showers. Good.

The map shown here also lists the coastal weather stations mentioned in the Shipping Forecast:

(1) Tiree, (2) Stornoway, (3) Lerwick, (4) Fife Ness, (5) Bridlington, (6) Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic, (7) Greenwich Light Vessel Automatic, (8) Jersey, (9) Channel Light Vessel Automatic, (10) Scilly Automatic, (11) Valentia, (12) Ronaldsway, (13) Malin Head

A few others are mentioned only in the 00:48 broadcast: Boulmer, Milford Haven, Liverpool Crosby, Machrihanish Automatic, among others.

Northwest Fitzroy: Northeasterly 4 or 5 becoming variable 3 or 4. Moderate. Rain later in west. Good. Sole: Variable 3 or 4, becoming southerly 4 or 5 in west. Slight or moderate. Rain later in west. Good.

One of the Shipping Forecast’s attractions to others than fishermen and sailors is its poetic effect, the result of its very strict format and an arcane terminology, only intelligible to the initiated.

Each bulletin begins with exactly the same opening line, and follows the same structure.

Preceded by gale warnings if necessary, a General Synopsis gives the position, pressure in millibars and track of pressure areas.

Then follows the forecast for each of the 31 areas, sometimes with some areas grouped together if they have the same outlook.

Each of these lists wind direction and strength, precipitation if applicable, and visibility (‘good’ for more than 5 nautical miles, ‘poor’ for less than 2 nm, and ‘fog’ for less than 1,000 metres).

The whole thing never exceeds 370 words.

Lundy, Fastnet, Irish Sea: Westerly 4 or 5 at first in east Lundy, otherwise variable 3 or 4. Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate in Fastnet. Fair. Good. Shannon, Rockall: Southerly or southwesterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 in west. Slight or moderate, becoming moderate or rough. Rain later in west. Mainly good.

The gap between Radio Four’s last programme of the day and the final Shipping Forecast, at 48 minutes past midnight, is plugged with as much as necessary of ‘Sailing By’, an orchestral piece by Ronald Binge, otherwise famous for his arrangements for Mantovani.

The repetitive waltz helps sailors find the right frequency.

For the many landlubbers tuning in to the last Shipping Forecast of the day, the cozy number signals that it’s almost time to turn in for the night.

Malin: Southwest 4 or 5. Slight or moderate. Mainly fair. Good. Hebrides: West 5 or 6, backing southwest 4 or 5. Moderate. Occasional drizzle. Good, occasionally poor.

Thousands use the day’s last forecast as a lullaby.

Adding to its hypnotic, soporific effect is the fact that it’s read out at a deliberately slow pace, to allow seafarers to make notes. 

The strange place-names and the weird jargon give the Shipping Forecast a magical shine.

And perhaps they give the thousands tucked away safe in their beds pause to think about those out at sea at that very moment, in the dark, listening to the same bulletin.

The forecast is followed by God Save the Queen, after which it’s exactly 1 am, and BBC World Service takes over.

Bailey: West backing south or southeast 5 or 6, decreasing 4 for a time. Moderate. Occasional rain. Good, occasionally poor. Fair Isle, Faeroes:West or northwest 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first, becoming variable 3 or 4 at times later. Mainly moderate. Occasional rain, fog patches developing. Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.

The Shipping Forecast has made a huge mark on music, literature and the wider culture. 

 

It inspired songs by Jethro Tull, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Wire, Blur, Radiohead, Tears for Fears, British Sea Power, Beck and the Prodigy, among others, and it was used in the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.
Nobel-prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney wrote a sonnet called ‘The Shipping Forecast’, and British Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy mentions “the radio’s prayer” in one of her poems.
The programme is used in books, films, tv series, and has been parodied countless times (once as ‘The Shopping Forecast’, listing UK supermarkets instead of sea regions)

Southeast Iceland: Cyclonic becoming easterly or southeasterly 4 or 5, increasing 6 or 7 later in west. Moderate, occasionally rough. Occasional rain. Good, occasionally poor. Trafalgar: Cyclonic 4 in southeast, otherwise northerly 5 to 7. Slight or moderate in southeast, otherwise moderate or rough. Thundery showers. Good, occasionally moderate.

Here is BBC Radio 4’s Shipping Forecast page.

Quoted text is that of the Shipping Forecast issued by the Met Office at 16.25 on Monday 21 March 2016, retrievedhere from the Met Office website.

Map of the sea regions by Emoscopes, found here on Wikimedia Commons.

Update 27 March 2016: changed the composer's name from Ronald "Ronnie" Biggs, whose fame derives from his participation in the Great Train Robbery. Thanks Aneel for pointing out the error!

Update 11 January 2017: Many thanks to Janos Vargha for sending in this news item about this artwork by Jane Tomlinson, awarded the John C Bartholomew Award for Thematic Mapping by the British Cartographic Society. 

"Dogger, Fisher, German Bight" shipping forecast celebrates 150 years of weather predictions

The shipping forecast is a radio broadcast - that began in 1924 and can still be heard four times a day - which provides weather forecasts and storm warnings for the seas around the British Isles.

In this video you can learn a bit about its history and also learn how to interpret the forecast - make sure your sound is turned on! 

From The Telegraph by Sarah Knapton

The Shipping Forecast is celebrating 150 years of continual weather predictions today, but sailors be warned, new statistics show that one in seven gales is a false alarm.
The first gale warning was issued following a violent storm in 1859 but it was not until
1867 that storm warnings at sea were issued on a regular basis and they have continued ever since.

 We look at the history of the Met Office shipping forecast

When it began, the forecast predicted around 75 per cent of strong winds correctly, but could only get the direction of the gales correct around one third of the time.
Today, The Met Office gets the wind direction correct 80 per cent of the time, but has a false alarm rate of around 15 per cent, meaning roughly one in seven storms will not happen.

 The forecast helps rescue agencies predict when they will be needed 

Credit: Apex

However overall forecasts, which also include wave heights, visibility and weather, are 93 per cent accurate, thanks to the Met Office’s new supercomputer which takes in data from all around the world.
The forecast is read on BBC Radio 4 each morning, although the Maritime and Coastguard Agency receive three updates throughout the day.

The Met Office have produced uninterrupted marine forecasts for 150 years.
Starting with gale warnings in 1867, these developed into the shipping forecast as we know it today.
This video gives a brief history of how marine forecasts began.

Calls for a regular shipping forecast were first made following the Royal Charter storm off the coast of North Wales in 1859 which led to the deaths of 800 people and the loss of 133 ships, double the amount of tragedies usually recorded in an entire year.
Following the disaster, Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy persuaded the Board of Trade to allow him to start storm warnings in a bid to prevent similar occurrences and regular forecasts began eight years later.

 An engraving of The Royal Charter sinking

The maritime storm warnings evolved into what is now today’s shipping forecast and eventually led to the daily Met Office weather forecasts. Peter Dawes, Lifesaving Services Manager for the RNLI said: “The Met Office Shipping Forecast is an excellent source of information, and a vital tool in helping people make critical safety decisions at the coast and at sea.
“We urge everyone to check the weather before heading to the coast, in order to stay safe.”

 Chart outlining the shipping forecast areas in 1932

Map of the Shipping Forecast regions, including their coordinates,

and the coastal weather stations of the British Isles.

courtesy of ManuscriptMaps

Not only have the number of forecasts we produced increased but so has our accuracy.
Met Office Advisor, Penny Tranter, said: “The Met Office is highly regarded internationally the experience we have providing severe weather warnings for over 150 years is unprecedented. We are trusted for good reason.”

Links :

• Met Office Weather Forecast mobile apps : iOS / Android / 150th anniversary of the Shipping Forecast
  The Guardian : Dogger, Fisher, German Bight: shipping forecast celebrates 150 years
  DailyMail : From German Bight to Dogger Bank: The Shipping Forecast celebrates 150 years of weather predictions (but 1 in 7 gale warnings are still wrong)