The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) have today launched a five-day
capacity building seminar to help UK Overseas Territories support
safe maritime trade.
The seminar, delivered as part of the government’s Overseas
Territories Seabed Mapping Programme, will focus on international
regulations, with sessions on maritime safety information
training, best practice governance and maritime law. This
guidance, given by experts at both the UKHO and MCA, will help
each of the 10 participating territories to comply with
international obligations and share their own maritime safety
information with ships operating in their waters.
For these ships, this information, including up-to-date
bathymetry (seabed mapping data), navigational warnings and
observations, is essential to safe navigation. And with the
global ocean economy expected to double from $1.5 trillion in
2010 to $3 trillion in 2030, it’s vital that these Overseas
Territories develop their capability to not only support maritime
safety, but create opportunities to increase seaborne trade and
tourism. This is particularly important for the many Overseas
Territories where these sources of income make up a significant
part of their GDP.
Advice and support given through the seminar will also complement
additional work carried out by the UKHO in collecting marine
geospatial data – including bathymetry, tidal and a range of
seabed features– in each territory’s ocean environment. The data,
which has been collected through 11 surveys in 6 territories,
will not only support navigation through the creation of charts
but give authorities the information they need to support
disaster planning and resilience, coastal infrastructure and
environmental protection.
This activity, including both the seminar and surveying, has been
carried out under the UK the Conflict, Stability and Security
Fund Programme funded by the UK Government.
Commenting on the seminar, Kerrie Howard, Hydrographic Programme
Manager, UKHO, said:
This hydrographic seminar provides a unique opportunity to
assemble an array of delegates from across the world, with a
shared vision for using marine geospatial data to unlock
safety, prosperity and sustainability.
Work that has been undertaken as part of the Overseas
Territories Seabed Mapping Programme to date has shown the
benefits of marine geospatial data. The next step, in terms of
implementation, will see tangible returns on hydrographic
investment. In the short and medium term, we expect new charts
to be created with a higher level of detail than ever before,
ensuring safety for mariners and providing businesses within
OTs to begin planning for increased import/exports and even
infrastructure development and coastal protection.
In the long term, however, what this work will foster – spurred
by this week’s session – is a shared culture of hydrographic
excellence across the Overseas Territories, unlocking a marine
geospatial-led future that maximises the potential of these
territories’ blue economies.
Those in attendance at the seminar will include representatives
from Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands,
Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, South Georgia and South
Sandwich Islands, St Helena and Turks and Caicos Islands.
