Hydrographic Surveys
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Scope and Technical Report: Hydrographic Surveys November 2012 PNG: Maritime and Waterways Safety Project CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 5 November 2012) Currency unit – kina (K) K1.00 = $0.49 $1.00 = K2.06 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank AIS – Automatic Identification System AHO – Australian Hydrographic Office AHS – Australian Hydrographic Service ECDIS – Electronic Chart Display ENC – Electronic Navigation Chart FIG – International Federation of Surveyors GNSS – Global Navigation Satellite System GPS – Global Positioning System IHO – International Hydrographic Organization IMO – International Maritime Organization NIH – National Institute of Hydrography NMSA – National Maritime Safety Authority OEM – Original Equipment Manufacturer PNG – Papua New Guinea SOLAS – Safety Of Life At Sea WGS 84 – World Geodetic Spheroid 84 ZOC – Zone of Confidence WEIGHTS AND MEASURES km (kilometer) – Linear measurement m (meter) – Linear measurement nm (nautical mile) – Measurement of distance at sea knot (nautical miles/hour) – Measurement of speed at sea and in air NOTE In this report, "$" refers to US dollars unless otherwise stated. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page A. Objectives and Scope of Work 1 B. Hydrographic Survey and Charting 1 C. Human Resources/ Manpower 4 D. Training 6 E. Equipment 6 F. Development Plan 7 G. Survey Arrangements 8 H. Recommendations 9 References 10 Appendix 1: Navigational Charts covering PNG 11 Appendix 2: Details of Areas Shown as Unsurveyed 14 Appendix 3: Listed Ports in Papua New Guinea 17 Appendix 4: Areas and Ports Identified for Large Scale Surveys 18 Appendix 5: List of Surveying Equipment held by Hydrographic Unit 23 Appendix 6: Proposed Structure and Responsibilities of Hydrographic Unit 24 Appendix 7: ESTIMATION of Time and Cost for Hydrographic Surveys 27 A. Objectives and Scope of Work 1. The independent state of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands in the South West Pacific Ocean. The country has 2.4 million square kilometer (km) of sea area with a coastline of about 21,700 km of which most is inadequately surveyed. Water transportation is the main mode of communication within the archipelago and affordable by the major community of the country. The main shipping lanes between Australia and North Asia also pass through these islands. As of today no charts are available for navigating the rivers. Two navigational charts are under production by data sharing arrangements with the private sector.1 2. By late 2005, the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) was established which included a Hydrographic Unit responsible for sale and distribution of nautical charts and Notices to Mariners. The Hydrographic Unit has not been able to contribute to the updating of the existing navigational charts with real time surveys and making new charts on large scale for the developing ports. 3. About 90 percent of the world’s cargo is transported by sea relying on nautical charts. Consequently, most coastal countries place great importance on their coastal management and charting activities. NMSA also requires an improved transport control, monitoring and surveillance system (i.e., Automatic Identification System), meteorological sensors and wider coverage of hydrographic charts to reduce the risk of accidents, loss of lives and negative environmental impacts. To operate the new systems and extend the coverage of charts, it is necessary for NMSA to upgrade technical and management skills, while NMSA is in the process of establishing systems for more rigorous and quantitative monitoring. The proposed project to respond to those requirements is expected to produce benefits for remote rural population, as well as for national and international populations, by improving the nautical charts and publications for safe and efficient shipping services. B. Hydrographic Survey and Charting 4. Of the 2.4 million km2 of sea area, 19 percent has been surveyed adequately2. Eighty- one percent of the area has not been surveyed and subsequently cannot be used for maritime travel. Most of these are based on old hydrographic and geodetic surveys, which lack the modern international standards. A great number of shoals, reefs and other hazards to navigation may have been undetected at the time of the survey, as the data collected were sparse and scattered. The location of many off-lying islets may not be accurately positioned on these charts due to the limitations of the conventional survey methods used. All the nautical charts and electronic navigational charts (ENCs) of this entire area have been made on WGS 84 datum under an ADB project.3 With no additional or fresh hydrographic surveys, new charts with plans of harbors and approaches have been made, thus the result of Zone of confidence (ZOC) has been reduced. Figure 1 below shows the coverage of navigational charts in PNG. The colored boxes in the diagram below show the coverage of area and scale of the chart. A list of the nautical charts covering the PNG waters is provided in Appendix 1. They carry very little data required for vessels to navigate and anchor in the harbors. Most of the navigational charts 2 2 carry pecked line contours and an area of 86,830 km (25,315 nm ) is shown “unsurveyed” 1 International Hydrographic Organization, South West Pacific Hydrographic Commission (SWPHC), 11th Meeting – Brisbane, Australia, 15-16 February 2012; Papua New Guinea National Maritime Safety Authority, National Report. 2 IHO C-55 Status of Hydrographic Surveys Papua New Guinea updated 13 October 2008. 3 ADB. 2000. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Loan to Papua New Guinea for the Rehabilitation of the Maritime Navigation Aids System Project. Manila. 2 giving no confidence to the masters of the vessels to navigate in these waters. Details of the unsurveyed areas are given in Appendix 2. Figure 1: Nautical Charts covering PNG 5. It is only through nautical charts that the navigators plan safe and most economic routes for their voyages from one port to another. Nautical charts with depths, navaids, dangers, navigable routes, tidal currents and nautical publications become an important requirement for the development of the maritime industry. The inadequate charting of PNG waters is probably one of the main factors adversely affecting the growth of the economy in PNG. Hazardous navigation and the poor condition of navigation aids have translated into higher insurance premiums due to higher risks. 6. Modern technology used in navigation, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS), requires a much higher degree of accuracy than is provided in the existing PNG hydrographic charts. Hydrographic data is essential for PNG’s maritime and navigational safety; inadequate hydrographic services lead to delays in resource exploration. In the marine environment, there can be no exploitation of resources without exploration, which requires hydrographic data. 7. Hydrographic survey and charting priorities for PNG are identified through the Nautical Data Committee which is headed by the NMSA and is made up of ship owners/agents and government agencies. The committee conducts annual meetings in collaboration with the Australian Hydrographic Service (AHS). Hydrographic survey and charting activity is then taken up by the Royal Australian Navy under a Memorandum of Understanding with PNG, at a survey 2 rate of about 300 hundred km per annum. Two charts, Kopi and Bismark Sea, are being 3 developed in AHS. Raw data for these charts is being provided by private sector companies under a memorandum of understanding with NMSA. The Kopi Chart would be the first river navigation chart in PNG. 8. Habitation along the entire coast of the main land and many islands has increased with trade and tourism4 thus increasing the maritime traffic. The country has 18 ports listed, details placed at Appendix 3. Many more have come up with temporary jetties and unregistered facilities. Boats or vessels commute personnel and cargo to the unlisted ports and many of these ports do not have large scale charts for navigation. 9. Areas and ports identified requiring large scale surveys to facilitate safe navigation of vessels are shown in Figure 2 and details appended in Appendix 4. The hydrographic surveys include ground control, coastlining, fixing of conspicuous objects, navaids, tidal observations, bottom sampling, side scanning, wreck investigation, current meter observations, secchi disc observations, information for nautical publications viz. sailing directions, lists of lights and any other observations as required to meet the standards of Order I surveys specified in IHO publication SP 44. All the data is to be collected in digital format. The data in original along with the processed data is to be given to AHS for production of paper charts and ENCs. Estimated time and cost for the hydrographic surveys is placed at Appendix 7. Figure 2 Areas identified for large scale surveys 10. Charting the above mentioned areas will improve the ZOC in those areas. 81 percent of the sea area to be surveyed is required to be done on smaller scales of 150,000 and above. The bathymetric data collection will take 67 ship years for a ship deployed 20 hours a day, 300 4 Papua New Guinea Cruise Ship Development Strategy – Report and Strategy for the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority – Nov 2009. See Appendix 5. 4 days a year and cruising at 12 knots. This is to be taken up by outsourcing to private companies under the supervision of personnel of the Hydrographic Unit, NMSA. Efforts to update small scale charts should continue with the bathymetric data obtained from the research vessels carrying out surveys in PNG. 11. Following seven locations have been identified as having maximum vessel traffic transiting between Asia and Australia. The narrowest channel being transited is at Jomard Entrance, two and half nm wide. The existing navigational charts of these areas have adequate data for mariners’ safe passage and fresh surveys may not be required immediately.