Tide Table and Its Benefits to the Shipping Industry

When it comes to ships and boats, a tide table becomes a very important source of information to the captain of the ship and boat when the vessel has to be docked on the port. The article describes what is a tide table and how it is beneficial to the shipping world.

In astronomical-geographic terms, a tide signifies the gravitational pull of the moon. Therefore this means that a high tide occurs when the alignment of the moon is closer to the earth and a low tide happens when the moon is positioned farther from the earth.

In purely mundane terms, the occurrence of tides might be a regular event but when it comes to ships and boats, it bears a lot of relevance and importance. A tide table is an assortment of data compiled about the tide levels at different times, which would enable the captain of a vessel to adjust the docking time of the ship or the boat accordingly.

A tide table becomes a major point of reference when a vessel tries to enter an inlet or a bay or an estuary for the purpose of docking. In water-parts like these, the presence of a low tide will moor the vessel even before it can dock at the dockyard and a high tide will disallow a vessel to dock at the required area. Since a tide table helps to predict the height of the tide, a captain will find it easier to manoeuvre the vessel accordingly and cruise smoothly into the intended destination.

When it comes to shipping conglomerates and industry, a tide table is once again vastly beneficial because with the help of a tide table, it becomes easier to predict the trends of the marine life. For a shipping business that deals with fisheries, a low-tide prediction with the help of a tide table will be able to pinpoint the location of a certain breed of fishes which gather in schools only during low-tides. This will help the business concern to catch more fishes and thus supplement their profits.

Additionally, a tide table is a successful tool again because it helps construction companies to chart out the construction stages of water-bridges and other coastal construction. All-in-all for the entire business community, the presence of a tide table helps to solve their problems which would have never been solved otherwise.

The working of a tide table is a simple process. There are reference stations which act as reference points along the coast for the measurement of tides. With the National Ocean Service (NOS), the organisation that collects and publishes tidal data for a number of areas and with the help of a relative variant known as the Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), a tide table is compiled.

The tide table of any place that does not come under the scope of a reference station is compiled with the help of data compiled from a reference station and a data known as tidal differences. Tidal differences are compilations of tidal data between a reference station and a subordinate station.

With the aid of the data thus garnered, ships and boats are relayed about the timing of the occurrence of high and low tides thus helping them to reach the harbour safe and without encountering any loss.

Science today has advanced so much that predicting and tackling most natural disasters and calamities have become possible. The development of a tide table is the latest testimony to the fact that with the help of science, man can modify natural occurrences to his level of comfort, if not alter it completely.

References: howstuffworks, lobstermanspage

About Author

Raunek Kantharia is a marine engineer turned maritime writer and entrepreneur. After a brief stint at the sea, he founded Marine Insight in 2010. Apart from managing Marine Insight, he also writes for a number of maritime magazines and websites.

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