Oil Patch Bits: Crowley selected 2009 NOAA award winner for VOS

Crowley Maritime Corp. said Oct. 13 that it has been selected as a 2009 Company Award Winner for the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Weather Service’s Voluntary Observing Ship program. The selection was based on Crowley’s 38 vessels providing 15,798 highly accurate and timely weather observations for the U.S. VOS program in 2009. Particularly impressive was Crowley’s Resolve, a pusher tug residing in Alaska waters, whose crewmembers alone made 1,738 observations last year, ranking her 14th-highest reporting vessel in the entire program. The VOS program, which was established in 1853, relies on volunteer crewmembers on nearly 1,000 ships around the world to monitor the weather at their locations and submit the observations to national meteorological services. This data is used to create marine weather forecasts and is archived for future use by climatologists and other scientists. “Crowley is proud of our history with the program and we are committed to continuing to support it,” said Ed Burdorf, manager of marine operations for Crowley. “We see the impact it has each day on our own vessel operations, and we are very appreciative of this recognition.”