IMO discusses tsunami warning system
The International Maritime Organization on Wednesday discussed a contribution it could make to setting up a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean under the coordination of the intergovernmental oceanographic commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The ninth meeting of the IMO subcommittee on radio-communications and search and rescue devoted a day to a special session on responses to the South Asian tsunami crisis.
Presentations were given by governments, non-governmental organizations and the IMO secretariat to update delegates on the measures that had been taken, so far, in the maritime context and with plans that were currently being put in place to enhance maritime recovery and reconstruction activities.
“Much discussion focussed around the contribution that IMO might make towards the development of a tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean,” the IMO said.
The director of IMO’s maritime safety division cited the “robust and well-proven satellite and radio-based communication infrastructure that IMO had established” in cooperation with other organizations.
As part of IMO’s response to the tsunami disaster, IMO’s regional coordinator for the East Asian region has conducted meetings with the Indonesian maritime authorities. From these discussions it has emerged that there was no major concern regarding possible changes of water depths at the country’s ports, although coastal radio stations and maritime safety offices in Aceh province had been destroyed, the IMO said.