Oman to get three new lighthouses by 2012

With the aim of keeping mariners safe, the Arabian Maritime and Navigation Aids Services (AMNAS) is set to construct three new lighthouses, besides three new Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) in Oman by 2012 .

The tender for the project has been floated by the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) and is likely to be awarded sometime this month.

“The lighthouses will be based in remote areas as part of AMNAS' Aids to Navigation (AtoN) project, which includes one on the southern tip of Masirah, one in Ras Madrakah, which is further south of Duqm, and the third at the eastern end of Qibliyah, also known as the Halaniyat Islands, off the Dhofar coast,” Khalil Ali al Balushi, the general manager of AMNAS, told Muscat Daily.

“The lighthouses will include two lanterns with a range of 20 nautical miles, with one on standby.” Of the DGPS, he said the system helps in enhancing the position fixing points. It is an enhancement of the GPS that uses a network of fixed, ground-based reference stations to broadcast the difference betw-een the positions indicated by the satellite systems and known fixed positions.

“These will be set up in Ras al Hadd, Ras Madrakah and Mirbat,” he said. “This will help boost the safety of navigation in the wake of development of new ports such as the one in Duqm.” The lighthouses will help to keep sailors safe by providing a coherent, evolving and fully International Maritime Organisation (IMO)-compliant enhanced network of efficient aids, covering the sultanate’s territorial waters.

“We are also working to boost overall maritime navigation on the Omani coastline,” said Balushi, referring to the Automatic Identification System (AIS). Ships equipped with AIS transmitters are tracked by the AMNAS office. “We can track all ships that are fitted with AIS in  Omani waters,” he added.