Hydrographic Survey Tide Gauges Installed

8 January 2010, London.   As part of the mobilization phase for the hydrographic survey of Area 1 in the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, the MEH Project contractor, GEMS Survey Limited, installed two tide gauges at Port Dickson and Pulau Lumut in Malaysia recently (2 – 7 January 2010).  A third installation will be carried out in Bagan Asahan pending approval by the Indonesian Authorities.  A total of four tide gauges will be installed for the survey.

Tide Gauge installation sites in the Straits

Both the tide gauges and the real time reporting systems have been tested.   GPS control network for levelling the tide gauges had also been installed, which will provide RTK GPS for the survey and have so far occupied two of the four stations required.  Two GEMS senior personnel are carrying out the tide gauge installation in collaboration with the Project’s National Focal Points and hydrographic offices.  The fourth and final tide gauge station will be installed on the old One Fathom Bank Lighthouse before 11 January 2010.

                (a)                                                         

(b)                                                        

  (c)

Status of installation of tide gauges in: (a) Port Dickson (completed), (b) Lamut (Completed) and (c) Bagan Asahan (Outsanding).

 Equipment and vessel Mobilisation

The hydrographic survey vessel MV Arifah Adni, which will be in Port Klang, Malaysia by 11 February 2010 to commence the field survey of Area 1 of the TSS.

The survey laboratory workshop and winching station left GEMS warehouses in the United Kingdom on 5 January 2010 for transit to Singapore for mobilization onto the survey vessel MV Arifah Adni.  The equipment will arrive in Singapore on the 29 January 2010 whilst the MV Arifah Adni is due to dock in Singapore on 4 February 2010.  The following activities will be carried out by GEMS personnel as part of the mobilization process:

• Bow mount for the multibeam system will be fitted and wired-in to the survey laboratory.
• Additional wires and screens will be run to the bridge for the helms-man’s display.
• Wiring and PCs will be installed in a suitable room on the ship to be used as an offline processing room.
• Required survey antennas will be installed and surveyed-in along with all the other points required to create an offset diagram for the ship.
• Satellite communications system will be installed.
• All equipment will be run-up and tested both on deck and in the water.
• Alongside calibrations will take place to verify the Gyro and the MRU.

The MV Arifah Adni will set sail to Malaysia and will complete all the required calibrations and verifications in Port Klang.  Once all calibrations are signed off as accepted by the MEH Project Oversight Team (MOST) who will be on board from Singapore, the vessel will commence work.