The full review of The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers （the STCW Convention） has been accomplished by International Maritime Organization （IMO） and ...The full review of The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers （the STCW Convention） has been accomplished by International Maritime Organization （IMO） and the new amendment, which is also named as Manila amendment, has been effective since 2012, with a transitional period of 2012-2017. Based on the system engineering context consisting of ＂Human, Machine and Environment＂, human factors at sea, i.e., those factors relevant to the seafarers, are consistently underlined. STCW convention is the unique but systematic international maritime legislation looking after the ＂professional competency standards＂ of seafarers. The amendment thereto is of great significance for the Maritime Education and Training （MET） systems, which should be fully understood so as to respond to it effectively. The paper analyzes major impacts brought by the amendment, with purposes to raise recommendations for MET systems to implement the amendment effectively.展开更多
Forecasts of record values are usually avoided unless expected to occur with great confidence within less than 48 hours, or in association with an extreme event such as a hurricane. Otherwise the risk of a high visibi...Forecasts of record values are usually avoided unless expected to occur with great confidence within less than 48 hours, or in association with an extreme event such as a hurricane. Otherwise the risk of a high visibility false alarm outweighs the benefit of a correct early hit. Yet automated forecasts may occasionally include record values beyond day 2, which forecasters may choose to downplay, or not. In Canada, forecasters keep their focus on high impact weather for days l and 2, so that forecasts for day 3 and beyond are mostly automated and usually released after a quick glance. So a process was designed to bring up cases where automated temperature forecasts exceed known records for a number of sites, with the sole purpose of alerting the forecasters who may decide whether or not modifications are needed before release. As a by-product it is found that some record temperature forecasts are issued every day in Canada, even more records are actually observed, and in recent years there have been twice as many new high records as low ones. We discuss the origin of the process, its logics, its current status, interesting findings, and possible improvements.展开更多
文摘The full review of The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers （the STCW Convention） has been accomplished by International Maritime Organization （IMO） and the new amendment, which is also named as Manila amendment, has been effective since 2012, with a transitional period of 2012-2017. Based on the system engineering context consisting of ＂Human, Machine and Environment＂, human factors at sea, i.e., those factors relevant to the seafarers, are consistently underlined. STCW convention is the unique but systematic international maritime legislation looking after the ＂professional competency standards＂ of seafarers. The amendment thereto is of great significance for the Maritime Education and Training （MET） systems, which should be fully understood so as to respond to it effectively. The paper analyzes major impacts brought by the amendment, with purposes to raise recommendations for MET systems to implement the amendment effectively.
文摘Forecasts of record values are usually avoided unless expected to occur with great confidence within less than 48 hours, or in association with an extreme event such as a hurricane. Otherwise the risk of a high visibility false alarm outweighs the benefit of a correct early hit. Yet automated forecasts may occasionally include record values beyond day 2, which forecasters may choose to downplay, or not. In Canada, forecasters keep their focus on high impact weather for days l and 2, so that forecasts for day 3 and beyond are mostly automated and usually released after a quick glance. So a process was designed to bring up cases where automated temperature forecasts exceed known records for a number of sites, with the sole purpose of alerting the forecasters who may decide whether or not modifications are needed before release. As a by-product it is found that some record temperature forecasts are issued every day in Canada, even more records are actually observed, and in recent years there have been twice as many new high records as low ones. We discuss the origin of the process, its logics, its current status, interesting findings, and possible improvements.
