Avert Risk. Save Lives. Protect Assets. Advanced Offshore Forecasting and Ship Routing Bob Cohen Certified Consulting Meteorologist 2-4 March 2004 Private Sector Workshop

2 Introduction Markets How the private sector meets the needs of users: –Site specific forecasting –Ship routing Private sector opportunities Modes of cooperation Areas of conflict Action plan

3 Private Sector Markets Marine –Ship routing services –Site Specific Forecasting –Consulting Aviation Mobile Agriculture Energy Media

4 Users of Forecast Products Site Specific Forecasting: –Drilling, construction, seismic and oil field service applications Ship Routing (Onboard System and Routing) –Commercial shipping, barge and tow operators and fleet managers

5 Value Added Services Private sector forecasting companies provide value added services to differentiate themselves from freely available forecasts and information Value added service includes full 24x7 customer support, which is not available from either government or academia Private sector users recognize the importance of value added products and services

6 Saturn Weather Graphics Display Software

7 Owner / Time Charterer / Fleet Position, track & ETA data Position Polling Port rotation, ETD, Speed & Intended route ETA, Weather Warning & Performance alarms Safe & efficient route recommendations and Weather forecasts Ship Routing

8 Parameters of Interest Surface and near-surface currents Wave height, direction and period Wind speed and direction Limitations to navigation –water level –fog Precipitation/icing All are currently available, but would be improved with better spatial resolution of observations

9 Benefits of Improved Forecasts Applications of new technologies, techniques and services help marine transportation companies: –Save fuel –Efficiently schedule –Reduce structural fatigue –Protect crew and cargo –Reduce costs IOOS offers opportunities for fine resolution observations and model output in coastal areas, with resulting benefits of more accurate forecasts for a wide variety of applications and value added products

10 ORION Optimized Routing

11 ORION Optimized Routing

12 Private Sector Opportunities Provide value-added services and products for the offshore environment Provide 24x7x365 support of data stream Be available for direct client interaction These are not services that should be provided by government or academia

13 Modes of Cooperation Cooperation between private sector companies with different expertise to produce value added products/systems for specific users (example: energy) Government-academia-private sector joint projects to meet market needs (HF radar vessel tracking)

14 Areas of Conflict There are value added products produced by the private sector for specific user groups. Those same products produced by academia and government should not compete with these.

15 Action Plan Include private sector providers at the level of Federation of Regional Associations. The private sector must be kept informed of potential opportunities, but may not have capability to attend every regional meeting. This will also provide a forum for government and academia to talk with the private sector to find out what the private sector might already be doing to assist a particular user group We must also work with NGO’s to meet their needs for products

16 Action Plan Communicate between academia, government and the private sector, including industry groups It is imperative to include government, academia, private sector users and providers as equal partners to advocate for IOOS

17 Food for Thought Many want to compare IOOS to the NWS model But: The NWS is to protect the public good Beyond the immediate land/sea boundary that is no longer the public environment, but rather a diverse group of private user communities in the marine environment This is an area where the private sector is experienced in meeting the needs of these users

18 Thank you for your time!

19 Bob Cohen, CCM