The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) shared the results of a seabed mapping program to improve safe navigation in Cayman waters. This program will help the Cayman Islands to comply with the Safety of Life at Sea Convention.
The program will also enable the Cayman Islands to fulfill its international maritime obligations under the Safety of Life at Sea Convention. The Hydrographic Office seeks to improve maritime charts across the British Overseas Territories, and those efforts have been funded through the U.K.’s Conflict Stability and Security Fund.
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The project has as a goal to gather and circulate nautical information to any interested party through the Maritime Safety Information System, and it aims to identify future areas to be surveyed, as well as publish new charts with data from the areas that will be surveyed.
UKHO surveyed the waters west and south of Grand Cayman in 2017, as well as the southwestern tip of Cayman Brac. The data from those surveys was presented to Cayman’s Lands and Survey Department during a workshop at the Government Administration Building on Tuesday.
According to the experts, most of the work is conducted by using vessel-based multi-beam surveys which are covering areas of specific importance for safe navigation. In addition it uses airborne LIDAR bathymetry and remote sensing satellite-derived bathymetry.
The areas that were surveyed were established by a prioritisation programme based on current charts and shipping density as well as with meetings with local stakeholders.
