Prime Minister James Marape today launched the country’s Vessel Tracking and Monitoring systems to provide real time information on inbound and outbound vessels.
Mr Marape says the system has been on trial for some twelve months by the transport department and the national maritime safety authority and it is timely that we launched today as we monitor the COVID-19virus. This is also the first anniversary of the system being used.
“There has been concerns on unchecked vessels entering PNG and I am happy we have this system to allay fears and concerns and to ease our people’s fear of vessels arriving into PNG unchecked and also give comfort that there are checks and balance at our finger tips as to the operations at frontline agencies at the port facilities”
He said all vessels will be monitored on Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Long Range Identification Tracking (LRIT) vessels tracking system.
“This gives comfort to authorities like Department of Transport (DOT) and National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) to vouch for the controller and the people of PNG that all vessels are tracked and monitored to ensure that the orders are followed through”.
The Prime Minister says amidst the COVID19 pandemic, it gives us the opportunity to improve on the systems we have since Independence and modernize what we are doing and this not only applies to the maritime sector but to all sectors”
“I thank the Transport Department and the National Maritime Safety Authority and while we are monitoring our international vessel movements I urge the department and NMSA to also work on developing our local maritime surveillance and monitoring and to work closely with all other government agencies doing similar work to collaborate and work together in this”.
