S. Korea launches its first weather ship

SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea launched its first meteorological observation ship on Monday, a vessel that is expected to improve precision in the country's weather forecasts, the weather agency said. The ship, named "Gisang 1," was launched in a ceremony held at a port in Incheon, just west of Seoul, and went into operation, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. Use of the vessel is expected to help compensate for the country's unique geographical condition of three sea borders, which makes accurate weather forecasts particularly difficult. Torrential rains or heavy snowfalls develop especially quickly off the peninsula's coasts, the agency said. Equipped with various oceanographic instruments and radar equipment, the 498-ton ship will be stationed off the western coast to monitor such data as direction and speed of winds, water temperatures, atmospheric pressure and seawater salinity, the KMA said. The Gisang 1 can sail to any location in the Yellow Sea within 10 hours to record information needed to predict the weather for the next 24 hours, as well as transmit the information to weather offices on a real-time basis using satellites, the agency said. The ship can also move to the country's southern and eastern seas if necessary, the KMA added. "The launch of the Gisang 1 is anticipated to help improve the precision of weather forecast services," Um Won-geun, a director of the KMA, told reporters. "It will be of help in improving the nation's marine meteorological observation capabilities, which have been weak so far, minimizing elements of uncertainty." The administration spent 13.3 billion won (US$12.3 million) on the ship that can travel at a maximum speed of 33 kilometers per hour, sail 7,400 kilometers and carry up to 47 people. The observational data that the ship is to gather will also be used for monitoring and analyzing the impact of climate change in the Northeast Asian region, contributing to international efforts to jointly deal with massive natural disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes and radiation leaks, officials said.