4.1 General

  4.1.1 Marine meteorological services are provided to satisfy the requirements for information on marine environmental conditions and phenomena, established by national practices and international conventions in relation to marine operations.

  4.1.2 Marine meteorological services are designed for the safety of marine operations and to promote, where possible, the efficiency and economy of marine activities.

  4.1.3 There are three types of marine meteorological information: forecasts and warnings for the High Seas, forecasts and warnings for coastal and offshore areas and services for ports and harbour areas. The Marine Meteorological Information guidance and coordination are involved with only two of them:

• .1 services for the High Seas, which will comprise:

  • .1 warnings of gales and storms;

  • .2 weather and sea bulletins, which have to include, in the order given hereafter:

    • Part I – Storm warnings;

    • Part II – Synopsis of major features of the surface weather chart and, to the extent possible, significant characteristics of corresponding sea-surface conditions; and

    • Part III – Forecasts.

• .2 services for coastal and offshore areas, which will comprise warnings, synopses and forecasts.

  4.1.4 Operational guidance for handling and formatting meteorological information is given in detail in the Annex IV of the WMO Technical Regulations (Manual on Marine Meteorological Services – WMO-No. 558). It is summarized in the following sections 4.2 and 4.3.