62. Mr. Gresham Cookeasked the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to the practicability of supplementing the services given by the nine ocean weather ships in the Atlantic with a service of meteorological information provided, for payment, by all mercantile vessels of interested countries on regular Atlantic routes; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MillanShips of nearly all the maritime countries already make regular meteorological reports whenever they are at sea, under a worldwide system coordinated by the World Meteorological Organisation. About 4.000 ships participate, of which more than 700 are registered in the United Kingdom. In British ships, as in most foreign ones, the work is voluntary and unpaid. The system works well and I see no reason for attempting to change it.