Hydrographic Survey Activity for the Malacca Straits Traffic Separation Scheme Area Off One Fathom Bank Nearing Completion
During the period from 10 February to 4 April 2010, GEMS Survey Limited based in Devizes, Wiltshire, United Kingdom carried out a hydrographic survey of an area of the Traffic Separation Scheme in the Malacca Straits under contract by IMO. In September 2010, the contractor made its first delivery of the expected outputs of this activity. As part of quality control process, the MEH Oversight Team and the Hydrographic Offices of the littoral States held several sessions to verify the survey data and information and in some sessions with the participation of the contractor, shifting through and cross-examining the materials with a target objective of having a successful survey with useful products. This activity is close to completion.
An image of the sand wave in the survey area with the corresponding vertical profile.
This survey could be categorized as a milestone achievement of the MEH Demonstration Project. Never before has such a detailed survey coverage using modern instrumentation and processed by advanced digital technology has been undertaken in the Malacca Strait that provides a detailed one hundred percent floor coverage of the critical shipping route in Malacca Strait. The information derived could provide application in many fields of study such as the Sand Wave Study to be undertaken by the Project and other challenging issues, seabed features and sedimentology as well as evidence of reverse flow of the main column of water coming from the Andaman Sea back into the Indian Ocean as the seabed shallows quickly to 10 or 20 metres from ocean depths of close to 1000 metres.
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Development of the MEH Data Centre in Batam, Indonesia Initiated
