Lifesaving link and much-loved icon: the Shipping Forecast and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Lifesaving link and much-loved icon: the Shipping Forecast and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

This year the BBC is celebrating the centenary of its first broadcast in 1925 of the iconic Shipping Forecast. 
An old chart of the British Isles

The comforting tones and familiar phrases are well known, perhaps as an early morning wake-up or lulling us to sleep: Cromarty, Forth, Tyne, Dogger... 

But did you know the Shipping Forecast has a life of its own beyond its more famous incarnation on the radio? 

In fact, what is now the Shipping Forecast was first called Weather Shipping. It aired on 1 January 1924, a year earlier than the BBC’s debut broadcast, and instead of the radio was picked up by ships over a telegraphic messaging system.

 

A Shipping Forecast by any other name...

Virginia McVeaWeather Shipping was so popular among seafarers that in order to reach more ships the broadcast moved to the BBC in 1925. 

These days, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) is ultimately responsible for the provision of Maritime Safety Information (MSI) to ships at sea, which includes the broadcast of warnings and forecasts.  

The MCA works closely with the Met Office, which prepares and issues routine forecasts and initiates weather warnings for dissemination by HM Coastguard as well as the BBC. 

At its most basic, the modern Shipping Forecast is a set of data: 24 hours of meteorological information calculated four times a day to assist safe shipping in and around UK waters. 

Congratulations to the BBC for 100 years of broadcasting the Shipping Forecast 

It is broken down into 31 different sea areas giving conditions of wind, sea state, weather and visibility. 

The Shipping Forecast itself is produced by the Met Office on behalf of the MCA as part of the UK’s statutory obligations to provide Maritime Safety Information (MSI) to seafarers via approved broadcasting methods. It is shared with the BBC for its own broadcast, as an abridged version.  

Despite not being a legal requirement for the BBC to relay the information, the Shipping Forecast as a radio broadcast has become a traditional and hugely popular fixture on the airwaves. 

MCA Chief Executive Virginia McVea said: “Congratulations to the BBC for 100 years of broadcasting the Shipping Forecast. Seafarers' lives across the globe have depended upon this lifesaving link. 

“The MCA is proud of its key role in the Shipping Forecast’s past – and its future. We will continue to meet our international duty to ensure information available to mariners in UK waters is accurate, timely and accessible.” 

With advances in maritime communications technology, the number of seafarers relying on the BBC’s Shipping Forecast has reduced.  

But its place in the Radio 4 schedules maintains another source for a regulated and standardised marine forecast to help keep people safe on the waves. 

 

The bigger picture

A Navtex machine showiong a text version of the Shipping ForecastThe bigger picture of providing Maritime Safety Information (MSI) to ships at sea is the responsibility of the MCA.  

In addition to the Shipping Forecast, this includes broadcasting High Seas Forecasts, Gale and Storm Warnings, and Navigational Warnings. 

The most common ways seafarers obtain the Shipping Forecast is through the international NAVTEX (NAVigational TelEX) service, coordinated in the UK 24 hours a day by HM Coastguard. This is supplemented by regular MSI broadcasts using marine VHF and MF radiotelephony. 

The MCA is proud of its key role in the Shipping Forecast’s past – and its future

The delivery is provided by HM Coastguard working closely with the Met Office and UK Hydrographic Office. The Shipping Forecast is also published online by both the Met Office and the BBC. 

This statutory obligation to provide MSI has its roots in the Safety of Life at Sea Convention, first drawn up in 1914. 

Known as SOLAS, it stems from the International Maritime Organization, a specialised agency of the United Nations, of which the UK is a leading member and sets the standards for global shipping. 

 

Worldwide flow of information

It led to the founding of Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) in 1999, creating a standardised, worldwide flow of information provided by signatory nations. Many now have their own version of the Shipping Forecast for their sea areas, all transmitted in English. 

Matt Sheldon
Matt Sheldon, UK Maritime Safety Information Lead at the MCA

SOLAS requires at least two forecasts to be broadcast daily. In the UK, the Met Office produces one every six hours. 

So, although the UK’s Shipping Forecast is not unique, its place in British culture, thanks to its fond adoption by the BBC, is very special. 

Rewind 101 years and Weather Shipping was broadcast over a telegraphic messaging system first developed in 1861 by Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy to issue weather warnings to ships. 

Vice-Admiral FitzRoy’s work was motivated by the sinking of the steam clipper Royal Charter, with the loss of over 450 lives, in a violent storm off the coast of Anglesey on 26 October 1859. 

Heartwarming evidence that the UK remains a truly maritime country

Today, the maintenance and future development of this safety critical activity is overseen by Matt Sheldon. He works at the MCA as the UK MSI Lead and regularly liaises with the Met Office and the BBC. 

Matt said: “The fact that we’re celebrating 100 years of the Shipping Forecast on the BBC is heartwarming evidence that the UK remains a truly maritime country. 

“It is a testament to our continued commitment to providing MSI above and beyond the required standard and an inspirational demonstration of cross government collaboration. 

“The centenary is a wonderful opportunity to highlight how the MCA’s partnership work gives seafarers the knowledge they need to make good decisions, stay safe at sea, and save lives.” 

 

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