The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the Port of London Authority (PLA) and Peel Ports Group to enable greater collaboration in the port sector.
The new strategic partnerships aim to improve the supply, management and sharing of hydrographic and marine data and support the UKHO’s ambitions to work more closely with the UK ports and harbors community.
Taken together, PLA and Peel Ports Group are responsible for handling more than 120 million tonnes of cargo every year. Data from the port groups’ operations will be shared with the UKHO for the purposes of improving safety and efficiency.
The MoUs also aim to enable closer collaboration on the development and implementation of next generation navigational services. This will include the testing of new solutions based on the International Hydrographic Organization’s new S-100 data standards and joint efforts to find more opportunities to digitalise the port environment.
"Ports sit at a critical point in the supply chain. Their unique role comes with unique data which, in an increasingly digital industry, will be critical to the future of navigation, voyage optimisation and to decarbonisation.",
said Paul Marks, Head of Data Partnerships at UKHO
The PLA is responsible for 95 miles of the River Thames, including the surveying of over 400 square miles of riverbed to support safe and efficient passage. This MoU signing follows a successful collaboration between the UKHO and PLA to conduct the first real-world sea trial of gridded bathymetry data using the S-102 standard.
"We will be focussing our working groups to seek efficiencies and developments in the areas of ENC (Electronic Navigation Chart) production including the S-100 suite of data standards, as well as automating processes related to data processing, data management and data services",
said John Dillon-Leetch, Port Hydrographer at PLA
By using multibeam survey data collected by PLA and processed by the UKHO, the organizations worked with SEAiq Pilot to carry out a piloted passage on a commercial vessel to evidence how S-102 data can improve situational awareness and navigational safety for mariners.
"We are very much looking forward to the continuation of this collaboration and the opportunities it presents for technological development and the advancement of navigational services",
said Gary Doyle, Group Harbour Master at Peel Ports Group
Peel Ports Group is responsible for seven ports and terminals across the UK – from Clydeport in Scotland to London Medway in the Southeast – and the handling of 70 million tons of cargo each year.
The new MoU between UKHO and Peel Ports Group will help to formalize existing avenues of collaboration, paving the way for closer data and knowledge exchange.
Source: Safety4sea
