The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will be commissioning its new hydrographic vessel named Mata Ikan ("Eye-of-the-Fish" in English) on 6 June 2000, Tuesday, at 1500hrs at the Raffles Marina Club. The Guest-of-Honour for the commissioning ceremony is Mr Peter Ho, Chairman, MPA.

Orginally built in 1966 as a lighthouse support and hydrographic vessel, the new Mata Ikan will play an even more significant role in the surveying and charting of Singapore waters. Aside from being deployed to conduct hydrographic surveys and provide support to maintain and operate four offshore lighthouses and other aids to navigation in Singapore, it will be used to monitor the water quality of Singapore's port waters. This would be through joint research studies carried out on the marine environment, tidal hydrodynamics and sedimentation transport with local institutes and universities. The vessel will also double up as an On-scene Command and Control Centre (OSCC) during maritime emergencies such as oil pollution incidents.

To do so, it is equipped with the latest technologies and systems. For surveying, it boasts an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) integrated with a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) to provide continuous and accurate positions of the vessel. It will soon be installed with a multi-beam surveying system to triple the surveying capacity unlike the use of a single beam echo sounder. For OSCC functions, it is equipped with a mobile Vessel Traffic System and a CCTV system to provide real-time information on the resources that have been deployed in a maritime emergency automatically. Such a feature helps in the efficient and effective planning and management of an incident on scene.

Built at a cost of more than $4 million, and measuring about 30m in length, the 150 gross tons Mata Ikan will be managed by the Hydrographic Department of the MPA.

End of Release.