Field No.

Field/ Column Name

Code

Recruiting Country

1

cntryCode

AR

Argentina

AU

Australia

AZ

Azerbaijan

BD

Bangladesh

BE

Belgium

BG

Bulgaria

BR

Brazil

CA

Canada

CH

Switzerland

CL

Chile

CN

China

CU

Cuba

DE

Germany

DK

Denmark

EC

Ecuador

1

cntryCode

ES

Spain

FI

Finland

FR

France

GB

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

GR

Greece

HK

Hong Kong, China

HR

Croatia

ID

Indonesia

IE

Ireland

IL

Israel

IN

India

IS

Iceland

IT

Italy

1

cntryCode

JM

Jamaica

JP

Japan

KE

Kenya

KP

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

KR

Republic of Korea

LK

Sri Lanka

LT

Lithuania

LV

Latvia

MY

Malaysia

NL

Netherlands

NO

Norway

NZ

New Zealand

PF

French Polynesia

PH

Philippines

1

cntryCode

PK

Pakistan

PL

Poland

PM

St. Pierre and Miquelon

PT

Portugal

RU

Russian Federation

SA

Saudi Arabia

SE

Sweden

SG

Singapore

TH

Thailand

TZ

United Republic of Tanzania

US

United States of America

YU

Yugoslavia

ZA

South Africa

Field No.

Column / Field Name

Code

Explanation
[Note: Standard entries are shown in capital letters)

2

typeCode

Type of ship (VOS category/observing programme)

10

SELECTED SHIPS

20

Selected Ships (special)

21

Selected Ships (merchant)

22

Selected Ships (trawlers)

40

SUPPLEMENTARY SHIPS

60

Supplementary Ships (merchant)

61

Supplementary Ships (trawlers)

70

AUXILIARY SHIPS

80

Auxiliary Ships (occasional)

81

Auxiliary Ships (trawlers)

Additional codes for ships recruited by the USA, but not registered in the USA:

88

Selected Ships (not USA registry)

89

Supplementary Ships (not USA registry)

90

Auxiliary Ships (not USA registry)

Field No.

Column / Field Name

Column No. in printed ed.

Code

Explanation

3

name

1

Ship's name

(plain text)

Name of the ship (followed by the name, in brackets, of the ship's country of registry if different from the country which recruited the ship into the VOS programme).

4

call

2

Ship's Call Sign

(plain text)

Ship's call sign (unique; no duplicates allowed among ships recruited by the same country).

5

vssl
Abbrev

3

Kind of vessel

BC

Bulk carrier

CC

Closed container

F

Ferry

FV

Other fishing vessel

GC

General cargo

GT

Gas tanker

LT

Liquid tanker

O

Other

PV

Passenger vessel

RR

Ro/Ro container

RV

Research vessel

SV

Support vessel

T

Trawler

Y

Yacht/pleasure craft

6-8

lenVssl
brdVssl
frbVssl

4

Vessel dimensions

(figure)
(figure)
(figure)

Length of ship (in whole meters)
Breadth of ship (in whole meters)
Freeboard of ship (in whole meters)

9-18

Routes /
rte

5

(number)

Routes(s)

The areas or routes on which the ship is normally plying. A different set of routes is defined for each country - see separate data file "Ships' Routes" for the specific set of route codes for each recruiting country.

Field No.

Column / Field Name

Column No. in printed ed.

Code

Explanation

19-20

barm

6

Type of barometer used to report atmospheric pressure.

AN

Aneroid barometer

DA

Digital aneroid barometer

MER

Mercury barometer

SAN

Ship's aneroid barometer

21-22

brmH

7

Height of barometer

(figure)

Height of barometer (in whole meters), measured from the maximum load line.

23-24

thrm

8

Type of thermometer used to report air temperature.

ALC

Alcohol thermometer

ELE

Electric (resistance) thermometer

MER

Dry bulb mercury thermometer

25-26

thmE

9

Conditions of exposure of thermometer

A

Aspirated (Assmann type)

S

Screen (not ventilated)

SG

Ship's sling

SL

Sling

SN

Ship's screen

US

Unscreened

VS

Screen (ventilated)

W

Whirling

27-28

hygr

10

Type of hygrometer used to compute dew point.

E

Electric

H

Hair hygrometer

P

Psychrometer

29-30

hgrE

11

Conditions of exposure of hygrometer

A

Aspirated (Assmann type)

S

Screen (not ventilated)

SG

Ship's sling

SL

Sling

SN

Ship's screen

US

Unscreened

VS

Screen (ventilated)

W

Whirling

31-32

sstM

12

Method of obtaining sea surface temperature

BTT

Bait tanks thermometer

BU

Bucket thermometer

C

Thermometer in condenser intake on steam ships, or inlet of engine cooling system on motor ships

HC

Hull contact sensor

HT

'Through hull' sensor

OT

Other

RAD

Radiation thermometer

TT

Trailing thermistor

33-34

sstD

13

Depth of sea-surface temperature measurement

(figure)

Depth below maximum load line at which sea surface temperature is measured, (in whole meters).

35-36

barg

14

Type of barograph

OS

Open scale barograph

OS1

Open scale barograph with 1-day clock

OS2

Open scale barograph with 2-day clock

OS3

Open scale barograph with 3-day clock

OS4

Open scale barograph with 4-day clock

OS5

Open scale barograph with 5-day clock

OS6

Open scale barograph with 6-day clock

OS7

Open scale barograph with 7-day clock

OS8

Open scale barograph with 8-day clock

OS9

Open scale barograph with 9-day clock

SS

Small scale barograph

37

anmH

15

Height of anemometer

(figure)

Height (in whole meters) measured from max. load line

38-43

othI

16

Other meteorological instruments used aboard the ship.

A

Anemometer (normal pattern)

AG

Anemograph

AV

Vane anemometer

BAT

Bathythermometer

BT

Bathythermograph (towed)

HA

Hand anemometer

MAX

Maximum thermometer

MIN

Minimum thermometer

P

Pilot-balloon sounding apparatus

R

Radiosonde apparatus

RG

Rain-gauge

RSD

Radar storm and meteorological phenomena detection

RT

Reversing thermometer

SA

Ship's anemometer

ST

Sea thermograph

TSD

Temperature/salinity/depth probe

W

Radiowind or radarwind apparatus

XBT

Expendable bathythermograph

Field No.

Column / Field Name

Column No. in printed ed.

Code

Explanation

44-45

phGr

17

Radio-telephony and telegraphy facilities aboard.

R

Radiotelegraphy

T

Radio telephone

46-50

prSt

18

Teleprinter and satellite facilities aboard.

A

ARGOS communication facility

C

INMARSAT-C communication facility

E

Environmental satellites communication facility

I

INMARSAT communication facility (all types except "C")

Y

Direct printing radiotelegraphy

Field No.

Column /
Field Name

Code

Explanation

51-53

fieldAbbrev

Code name of field: Abbreviation or code name of the field to which the footnote applies (used to insert the footnote reference mark in the appropriate column).

cntryCode

Country code (of recruiting country)

typeCode

Type of VOS ship (selected, supplementary, auxiliary, etc.)

name

Ship's name

call

Ship's call sign

vssl

Kind of vessel (e.g. ferry, liquid tanker, etc.)

vsslD

Vessel dimensions: length, breadth, freeboard

rtes

Route(s)

barm

Type of barometer

brmH

Height of barometer

thrm

Type of thermometer

thmE

Conditions of exposure of thermometer

hygr

Type of hygrometer

hgrE

Conditions of exposure of hygrometer

sstM

Method of obtaining sea surface temperature

sstD

Depth of sea surface temperature measurement

barg

Type of barograph

anmH

Height of anemometer

othI

Other meteorological instruments

phGr

Radio-telephony and telegraphy

prSt

Teleprinter and satellite

54-56

footID

Identification number of footnote text to be inserted

1

New type precision aneroid barometer

2

Ship's officer

6

HA: Spare

7

Operates during the period November-May

8

Humidity measured by psychometric methods and dewpoint estimation

10

Fixed drilling rig (in North sea)

12

Research and special purposes only

13

Research and special purposes only, on duty November-May

14

Performs observations/reports mainly in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

15

In northwestern Pacific, observes/reports nearly as a selected ship

16

Sail training vessel

17

A mobile telephone is used for communications

18

During the summer only