Why you need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

(From Lloyds List)

Byline: Applied Weather Technology, a ship routeing specialist based in California, was recently in the news for opening its first European office in Aberdeen – headed up by top executives recruited from its chief rival, Weathernews. Rajesh Joshi profiles t

THERE is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather, John Ruskin (1819-1900) was quoted as saying.

Utopia is made of such stuff. But Applied Weather Technology, a company in sunny California has brought this philosophy to life, in its arcane yet critically important maritime niche of ship routeing.

The subject was thrown into relief by an International Maritime Organization circular in December 2002, which touched upon ships' participation in weather routeing services.

After referring to the tragedy of the 1976-built, 169,044 dwt oil bulk and ore carrier Derbyshire, which perished in a typhoon off Okinawa in September 1980, the circular points out that although the ship's master had been provided with weather routeing advice, 'the information was insufficient to assist him in effectively avoiding the worst weather associated with the typhoon'.

Although the quality of weather routeing has improved since 1980, the circular goes on, 'services available today remain largely unregulated, and in some cases operate as an enhancement for commercial expedience rather than directly as a safety precaution.