International Port Meteorological Officers workshops provide a way to ensure that standard procedures proposed by WMO are followed throughout the whole Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) fleet in every country, and that the data produced are homogenous and comply with WMO standards. The workshop will convey important recent developments (e.g. WMO publication No. 47, enhanced PMO communications), as well as address WIGOS developments and needs for harmonization of standards, better interoperability between observing systems, and quality management. As PMOs also provide marine services to shipping companies and port authorities, training will also be provided in this regard. The workshop will provide the opportunity to strengthen relationships in a role, which relies heavily on international co-operation and is becoming more complex and requiring new skills (e.g. computer skills, deploying drifters and floats, using e-logbooks, retrieving delayed mode data, and installing AWS).