​OOCL receives recognition from HKO, WMO and IOC for valuable contributions to the observatory and maritime communities

OOCL is proud to announce that we were presented with two awards by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) to recognize our outstanding efforts in providing vital weather observation data in 2013. 

Thirty-seven OOCL vessels participated in the Hong Kong Voluntary Observing Ship (HKVOS) program by the HKO to voluntarily provide marine climatology data needed to help identify prevailing weather conditions for preparing forecasts and warnings to the maritime community.  While we are happy to see more companies joining the program, OOCL, by far, has been the biggest Hong Kong-based supporter of the program since its inauguration.

For the year 2013, the ‘OOCL Asia’ and the ‘OOCL Jakarta’ were presented with the ‘Diamond Award” and the ‘Gold Award’ respectively for their outstanding contributions.  ‘OOCL Asia’, in particular, received special recognition as being the only participating vessel which has made over 500 weather observation reports in 2013. This means that the ‘OOCL Asia’ submitted more than 40 reports to HKO each month. Since each report usually takes up to 30 minutes to complete, that means ‘OOCL Asia’ volunteered at least 250 hours contributing to the HKVOS program which helps improve safety in the maritime community.   

Apart from the quantity of the reports made, the OOCL Asia and the OOCL Yokohama were also presented with first time participation certificates jointly issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) for the high quality of the reports sent.

According to the HKO, observational data received from these ships are highly valued by the international scientific community for climate research and climate change studies. The data provided makes significant contribution to the WMO and IOC.

OOCL was presented the awards by Mr. C. M. Shun, Director of the HKO on June 6, 2014 in the Fifth Meeting of the HKO Liaison Group for the Shipping Community.  Mr. Shum also expressed his special thanks to OOCL for being the HKVOS program’s biggest supporter.