Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority has announced that the public could access its GeoSpace-Sea web portal starting August 2022. GeoSpace-Sea, a 12-agency effort launched in 2019, is the country’s national marine spatial data infrastructure, which gathers and combines marine and coastal geospatial data from various sources. It offers unified and comprehensive geospatial data for a variety of applications, including port, marine, and coastal planning and environmental management.
With about 70 per cent of our earth covered in water and over 80 per cent of international trade in goods carried by the sea today, water is an important global resource for humankind. Our waters provide spaces for transport, recreation, and natural resources such as food, energy, and minerals. It is critical that we understand this resource and take collective responsibility to protect it.
– Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Transport
The minister added that marine geospatial data can be beneficial for using water sustainably. The portal can assist the public in better understanding its marine environment and enable them to make data-driven and evidence-based policy decisions regarding the advancement of maritime technologies.
Users will be able to securely upload and download data using the web portal, which will facilitate collaboration between government, industry and academia in areas such as marine scientific research and development (R&D), marine conservation, and climate change adaptation. Following that, a broader set of features such as data visualisation, analytical tools, and reports will be made available.
GeoSpace-Sea has aided national sustainability projects such as climate change monitoring and understanding. The National Sea Level Programme, coordinated by the National Environment Agency’s Centre for Climate Research Singapore, aims to gain a better understanding of how rising sea levels may affect Singapore; and the Coastal-Inland Flood Model that is currently being developed, aims to enable holistic flood risk assessment and aid in the planning of coastal protection measures by simulating the combined effects of extreme sea levels and inland flooding caused by intense rainfall.
Senior Minister Tat acknowledged that having high-quality land-sea navigational and seabed data allows them to more effectively plan and make policy decisions, resulting in better outcomes such as more efficient transportation routes, lower fuel consumption, and safer navigation. It also allows for greater collaborations and new opportunities.
GeoSpace-Sea will also be used in digitalPORT@SGTM, a one-stop platform for port clearance and just-in-time services, to provide up-to-date information on vessel activity, optimise anchorage space use, and achieve faster turn-around times at ports, reducing the carbon footprint generated by vessels due to shorter port stays.
Having accurate maritime geospatial data is also a critical tool for achieving global environmental sustainability. Data on where people reside, what activities they engage in, and the influence on the marine environment, for example, will aid people in implementing more environmentally friendly methods.
High-quality and trustworthy land-sea navigational and seabed data enables more effective transportation routes, improved fuel efficiency and port design, all of which can assist reduce transportation’s carbon impact.
Many of the Sustainable Development Goals, including ‘Life below water,’ ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all,’ ‘Climate action,’ and ‘Sustainable cities and communities,’ to mention a few, rely on such data.
Integrated maritime geospatial data can help the public respond more effectively to challenges like climate change and maritime disasters, allowing people to better preserve the oceans and share them with future generations.
