The second phase of a joint hydrographic survey of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, and the Malacca Strait Council of Japan has began.
This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for Phase II of the survey in October 2017.
The data collected from the survey will be used to produce more up-to-date and detailed electronic navigational charts that will improve navigational safety and enable better voyage planning in one of the busiest waterways in the world, MPA Singapore explained.
Phase II will cover waters shallower than 30 meters within the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) from One Fathom Bank in the Malacca Strait to Horsburgh Lighthouse at the eastern entrance to the Singapore Strait.
Phase I of the joint hydrographic survey was completed in 2016. Phase II of the survey is supported by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) and is expected to be completed by 2020.