1. 1 World Meteorological Organization Ship owners and masters concerns with regard to VOS data exchange WMO-EC LVIII, June 2006 –No reclassification (Res. 40) –1 year ship masking trial –High level dialogue Affected WMO Members IMO, ICS Shipping industry (Intercargo, Intertanko) Technical Commissions (JCOMM, CBS, CCl) WMO-IMO Consultative meeting, Geneva, 12-13 February 2007

2. 2 World Meteorological Organization Consultative meeting agreed principles Redrafting Res. 40 not wanted Link not obvious: “Obs on web sites” => “increased security risk” Perception of link exists, so concerns must be addressed Commercial considerations No ship ID nor position on web site without ship owners authorization Masking schemes should comply with WMO Res. 40 (Cg. XII) Universally accepted solution for the longer term

3. 3 World Meteorological Organization Consultative meeting agreed principles Selective masking is acceptable when requested by ship owners –Agreement to be signed for receiving the non-masked data Protecting the partnership of WMO Members with private sector Geo-physical data + date + time + position are essential (Res. 40) Unique ship identification, and recruiting country are critical (SOT to advice)

4. 4 World Meteorological Organization Consultative meeting agreed principles Call sign not essential (Res. 40) provided technical solutions are proposed Unique ID required for –data assimilation (bias, systematic errors) –quality monitoring –quality information feedback to PMOs –climate applications Country identification not necessary in unique ID Pub47 restrictions acceptable for unique ID Simple and generic design standards : ship-owners eventually decide on building standards they use.

5. 5 World Meteorological Organization Consultative meeting recommended actions for SOT Cooperate with MSC sub-committee for investigating the use of LRIT to transmit weather observations To consider removing country name from unique ID To promote the added value of VOS observations in support of marine meteorology and climatology and maritime safety with the shipping industry

6. 6 World Meteorological Organization Consultative meeting recommended actions for SOT To undertake a review of the implementation impact of masking To establish an ad hoc task team on call sign masking schemes To explore long term solutions To prepare a report to EC-LIX proposing to maintain Resolution 7 (EC LVIII) in force and to continue the trials for another year, on the basis of the recommendations from the SOT regarding a unified approach to call sign masking.

7. 7 World Meteorological Organization Consultative meeting recommended actions for SOT To draft new version of MSC 1017 and then submit it to MSC-89 for approval To encourage the use of AWS To draft a document on ship design. ICS then to investigate impacts. To prepare a promotional DVD