#Kingston, July 4, 2019 – Jamaica – The National Land Agency (NLA) and Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will facilitate hydrographic surveys of the seabed in the country’s territorial waters. This exercise will be conducted using a vessel from the JDF Coast Guard’s fleet.
The agreement will be executed under
the auspices of the National Hydrographic Committee (NHC), which is chaired by Director
General of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ), Rear Admiral Peter Brady.
Under the MOU, the JDF is providing a vessel for the mounting of hydrographic survey equipment, provided by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) through the Commonwealth Marine Economics Programme, to facilitate the underwater surveys by the NLA.
Speaking in an interview with JIS News, Acting Senior Director of
Surveys at the NLA, Major Patrick Aiken, who indicated that the agency conducts
surveys of land above and under water, said the outcome of the exercise being
embarked on can be used for numerous activities such as in determining the
accuracy during a dredging exercise.
“We can use it for the purpose of getting
the elevation of the seabed so that dredging can be done to allow deep-hull
ships to enter the harbour without being stuck in mud or silt. After the
dredging is completed, we would again survey the ocean floor to see that we
have achieved the desired depth,” he further outlined.
The NHC which is the government-appointed
committee dealing with hydrography and maritime spatial data, is tasked with coordinating
the discharge of Jamaica’s responsibility under the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)
Convention.
It places particular focus on the regulation that requires a member State to facilitate hydrographic services and ensure that nautical charts are kept up to date in order to ensure safe navigation.
Rear Admiral Brady told JIS News that the survey process had
already begun.
“In the last two years, Jamaica
embarked on the updating of the hydrographic charts in key maritime
developmental areas to better facilitate coastal navigation marine
infrastructural works and other marine activities, through assistance from the
UK Government” he said.
Rear Admiral Brady noted
that while shipping around Jamaica has increased over the years, with larger
vessels, increased water levels and greater depths, the country’s nautical
charts are over 40 years old, adding that current data is needed for
efficiency.
“Having modern surveys will
make Jamaica more attractive and will make ship navigators confident to enter Jamaican
waters, and at the same time provide key information for potential investors in
commodities such as marine oil and gas,” he added.
The NHC is a Committee of the National
Council on Ocean and Coastal Zone Management (NCOCZM), and a Cabinet subcommittee
that is Chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator
the Hon Kamina Johnson Smith. Its membership
comprises representatives of the Port Authority of Jamaica; National Land
Agency; NCOCZM; University of the West Indies Marine Lab; JDF Coast Guard; the
Fisheries Division; University of Technology, Jamaica; Caribbean Maritime
University and the Maritime Authority of Jamaica.
The UKHO has been in Jamaica for the
past three weeks conducting hydrography training. This will develop Jamaica’s
capability to conduct its own hydrographic surveying.
Contact: Peta-Gay Hodges
Release: JIS
Header: Acting Senior Director of Surveys at the National Land Agency (NLA), Major Patrick Aiken (centre), converses with Colonel Adjutant Quartermaster of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), Captain (Naval) David Chin Fong (right), following the signing of a memorandum of understanding to facilitate hydrographic surveys of Jamaica’s seabed. Affixing his signature to the document is Lt. Col. R. Tyndale of the JDF, who signed as a witness
Insert: British High Commissioner to Jamaica, His Excellency Asif Ahmad (third left), observes as Kenre Valentine of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica demonstrates the use of the hydrographic survey equipment on a Jamaica Defence Force vessel that has been fitted with the apparatus to facilitate underwater surveys by the National Land Agency.
Photos Contributed