⚓Maritime

a typhoon crossing island ferry routes, an extratropical cyclone on a South American coast, and a marine alert count that is carrying most of an American board

The water is where today's alert volume actually sits. The American national board reads 362 active alerts of which 294 are marine against just 68 on land — an aggregate that looks like a busy country and is mostly a busy coastline, and the kind of total that misleads anyone reading the headline number instead of the split. Around Japan, the Ogasawara and Izu ferry routes are the first things the storm touches and the last to be restored; holding a sailing on Saturday is cheaper than recovering a stranded holiday manifest on Monday. On the Rio Grande do Sul coast an extratropical cyclone forms Sep 19 into Sep 20 with winds to 100 km/h — a berth, anchorage and small-craft decision on a short fuse. In the Saudi south-west highlands, red flash-flood alerts sit above the coastal plain, where torrents reach the shore road faster than they reach the forecast. Who owns the call: a harbourmaster with a sailing list and a falling barometer.

carried on 30 of the last 65 editions — since Aug 4, the 10 most recent shown.