The United States' third-largest Navy base is the 37th location for a marine-navigation system shown to increase marine safety and efficiency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced earlier this month.
Naval Base Kitsap, in Washington state, is now part of a nationwide network using NOAA's Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS) technology, the agency announced June 13. PORTS utilizes precision marine-navigation sensors to track oceanographic and meteorological conditions as they occur, according to the announcement.
"Precision navigation systems are a critical element of our nation’s data-driven blue economy and help our environment, too," NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in the announcement. "The real-time information tracked by PORTS systems allows vessels to move safely within U.S. waterways to make operations more efficient and lower fuel consumption, which also lowers carbon emissions."
Naval Base Kitsap personnel and local mariners now have access to up-to-the-minute information on maritime conditions including water levels, currents, tidal ranges, meteorological conditions, and wind speed and direction, NOAA reports in the statement. The information is expected to increase the navigational safety of vessels going into and out of Puget Sound; PORTS systems have reduced the number of collisions, groundings and property damage in areas where they are in use, according to NOAA.
“This new system, and the others like them around the country, reduce ship accidents by more than 50%, increase the size of ships that can get in and out of seaports and reduce traffic delays,” Nicole LeBoeuf, director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service, said in the announcement. “They also provide real-time data as conditions rapidly change, giving our coastal communities time to prepare and respond.”
