The international scheme by which ships plying the various
oceans and seas of the world are recruited by National Meteorological
Services (NMS) for taking and transmitting meteorological observations
is called the Voluntary Observing Ships’ (VOS) Scheme.
(See the following web address for further information: http://www.bom.gov.au/jcomm/vos/index.html).
The VOS Scheme is operated under the auspices of the Joint
WMO/IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology
(JCOMM), which was formed in 1999 through a merger of the marine activities
of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.
The forerunner of the scheme dates back as far as 1853,
the year in which delegates of ten maritime countries came together
at a conference in Brussels, on the initiative of Matthew F. Maury,
then Director of the United States Navy Hydrographic Office, to discuss
his proposal to establish a uniformed system for collecting meteorological
and oceanographic data from the oceans and the use of these data for
the benefit of shipping in return.
The Conference accepted Maury’s proposal and adopted
a standard form of ships’ logs and a set of standard instructions
for the required observations.
From the very beginning, ships’ meteorological observations
were recognized as being essential for the provision of safety-related
meteorological services for ships at sea, as well as for climatological
purposes.