Meteo Consult has designed & developed a special version of SPOS for Short Sea vessels. For all coastal areas world-wide, high resolution forecasts are prepared twice daily. The master onboard can subscribe to a regional forecast (e.g. Baltic & North Sea, Caribbean or South China Sea) and receive the detailed weather forecast via e-mail. The forecast is given at 6-hourly intervals and with a higher spatial resolution as the deep sea SPOS system.

A special feature is the inclusion of port forecasts with a complete overview of weather conditions for all ports in the region. This can be useful for planning weather sensitive loading operations.

Obviously, route optimisation is different from ocean crossing optimisations. The route is often fixed but the ETA calculations may be used for more accurate planning and fuel savings when the desired arrival time allows for slower speeds en route. This short sea version can also be used to make navigation decisions with regard to e.g. the Kiel Canal when sailing from the Baltic to the North Sea.

The coastal version of SPOS is also used on offshore support vessels, coastguard and military patrol vessels in coastal areas. The reliable delivery of weather combined with the high quality of weather data makes this version a valuable tool for a wide scope of maritime operations. In Newfoundland for example the high-resolution forecasts are also applied on board shuttle tankers that have strict weather criteria for loading oil.

The SPOS system has a proven track record and is used on over 1000 ships both ocean going and in short sea shipping. For more information on SPOS benefits, please click here or go to the SPOS software demonstration page