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Traffic and sea shipping industry are perhaps the most important economic activities in modern economic and social development of the world. Basic features and the meaning of sea shipping industry, as one of the constituent parts of multimodal transport, emerge primarily from special characteristics of the sea as a transportation way.Ports represent a great economic power; they play an essential role in the international and national economies, as well as in the global commodity exchange. They are of special importance because they are primary starting points for marine economy development. Numerous factors are relevant for the role and development of ports and port systems, and the most important ones include natural characteristics of ports, such as the depth and spatiality of the port maritime zone, shelter from winds, waves, sea currents and tides, and climate features.The recognition of the importance of meteorology for maritime activities has even changed the schooling of seamen; educational programmes have been adjusted according to WMO recommendations, ships have been equipped with the state-ofthe-art meteorological and navigational devices, and once the satellites were introduced the meteorological service has reached a high level of development and forecast accuracy. Therefore, marine meteorology should not be neglected; it should be given as much importance so as to become a constituent part of the skill for choosing the best and optimal shipping route.Marine meteorology (which includes the river meteorology as well) provides weather information to various maritime and river transportation activities. First of all, it refers to information on the state of wind and sea. Considering the importance of understanding the weather and climate of the area where a port is located, this paper provides a detailed overview of the climatological elements, including wind roses, for each of the presented ports: Rijeka, Zadar (Gaženica), Split (North Port), Ploče and Dubrovnik (Gruž). KEY WORDS

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