Hydrographic survey

Results will be used by the GOE Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) to prepare nautical charts for use by all mariners. The Ministry of Transportation, Comunications, and Maritime Affairs will implement the project. The USNS Harkness will use advanced electronic navigation positioning equipment to gather all information on the canal pertinent to sailing safety. This information will include actual hydrography of water depth; the position of and least depth over every shoal; the position of breakers, tide-rips, eddies, weeds, fishing stakes, and similar objects; ascertainment of the sea bottom over the water area, especially in depths where vessels may anchor; measurement of tidal streams and subsurface currents; data on areas suspected of containing submerged hazards. Also collected will be information useful in updating current Sailing Directions, such as profiles of the coast and offlying islands, directions for entering and leaving harbors, full descriptions of lights and other navigational aids, and details of available port facilities. The above information will be analyzed both aboard ship and at the Harkness"s Oceanographic Office and will be used by DMA to prepare updated nautical charts as portrayed in topographic "smooth sheets". At the GOE"s request or with its concurrence, copies of these sheets will be delivered to other maritime nations for use in producing nautical charts. A secondary project output will be an evaluation of existing navigational aids and recommendations for their improvement. Both new and trained Egyptian personnel will receive training on board the Harkness in modern hydrographic survey methods. To upgrade Egyptian survey capabilities, the Ports and Lighthouses Administration will be provided with a modest amount of equipment such as side scan sonar sets and simplified radio navaids. This equipment will be used both for future mapping operations and to maintain the accuracy of the new nautical charts.