Consultation outcome

03a. Deck - Marine Meteorology - an introduction

Updated 16 May 2023

Nautical - STCW II/1 CoC	Name of respondent, role and organisation:
Competency/ Module: Marine Meteorology	Plan and conduct a passage and determine position
Knowledge, understanding and proficiency	Recommendation of working group regarding the outcome and objective.	Rationale	Action required
Outcome 1: Describe meteorological observing methods, use of meteorological instruments, use of world meteorological organisation (WMO) codes and weather services available to shipping.	Keep	Essential	None
1.1 Meteorological instruments	Modernise	More practical use of equipment required.	Include practical experience of using the equipment
1.2 Beaufort scale	Keep	Essential	None
1.3 The organisation of the WMO	Keep	Essential	None
1.4 Weather services available to shipping	Keep	Essential	None
1.5 Non-instrument meteorological observations	Keep	Essential	None
Outcome 2: Explain meteorological processes.	Keep	Essential	None
2.1 Meteorological characteristics of the troposphere	Modernise	Seafarers need to understand how this impacts their work.	Contextualise this to explain how the troposphere impacts the weather forecast
2.2 Characteristics and causes of geostrophic and surface winds	Keep	Essential	None
2.3 Processes of formation of cloud and precipitation	Keep	Essential	None
2.4 Causes of reduced horizontal visibility	Keep	Seafarers need to understand how the reduction of visibility will impact other operations.	Contextualise this with the impact of reduced visibility on the application of COLREG.
Outcome 3: Identify and describe the weather associated with the main features of a synoptic chart.	Keep	Essential	None
3.1 Surface charts	Keep	Essential	None
3.2 Main synoptic patterns	Keep	Essential	None
3.3 Air masses	Keep	Essential	None
3.4 Weather associated with the main synoptic patterns	Keep	Essential	None
Outcome 4: Describe the general circulation of the atmosphere, the main climatic zones over the oceans and the ocean currents of the world.	Keep	Essential	None
4.1 General circulation of the atmosphere	Modernise	Seafarers need to understand how this impacts operations onboard	Simplify to include the basic pressure system diagram, focussing on practical application of knowledge and understanding for weather routing
4.2 Main climatic zones over the oceans	Modernise	Seafarers need to understand how this impacts operations onboard	Focus on practical application of knowledge and understanding for weather routing
4.3 Ocean currents of the world	Modernise	Seafarers need to understand how this impacts operations onboard	Focus on circulation rather than naming specific currents Focus on practical application of knowledge and understanding for weather routing, including positive use of currents.
Proposal submitted by:	Any other outcomes for this competency, above and beyond STCW which would be needed due to use of modern technology and impact of future fuels onboard:
	Objective	Reason Why	Action required
Cadet Training & Modernisation Working Group	Include Human Element Factors throughout the syllabus	To provide seafarers with a contextualised understanding of the Human Element in the maritime industry, showing how they can put theory into practice in the work they carry out at sea.	Raise awareness throughout the Cadet’s training of the areas in which human element factors will have an impact. Recommendations on where this can be included have been noted throughout the entire syllabus. Not every template has Human Element Factor recommendations but please do add any you feel may have been missed.
Cadet Training & Modernisation Working Group	Include Data Science skills throughout the syllabus	Data Science Skills (Comprehension, Analysis, Presentation, etc…) are already required within much of the syllabus. A further, specific focus on these skills needs to be taught where relevant.	A specific topic will need to be introduced to improve Cadets’ Data Science skills. Practical application of data science skills should be highlighted throughout the syllabus. Not every template has Data Science recommendations but please do add any you feel may have been missed.
Cadet Training & Modernisation Working Group	Ensure all outcomes are contextualised to help Cadets understand what they are learning in relation to what they will experience at sea.	While some outcomes are intrinsically linked to work carried out at sea, some need to be contextualised to show how they apply to work on board. Where this is the case, it is important to make sure Cadets clearly understand how the outcome relates to work at sea and it is essential to make sure that this context is given with reference to current and future seagoing technologies and practices.	Where outcomes do not specifically cover a topic which relates to work carried out at sea, more must be done to contextualise the outcome and make it relevant to the maritime industry, giving specific shipping examples of how the outcome may be applied in a modern shipping context. Not every template has contextualisation recommendations but please do add any you feel may have been missed.