Mappings and surveys conducted by the Fiji Hydrographic Service (FHS) have allowed safe navigation for vessels that traverse Fiji’s waters.
As a blue economy, Fiji depends on the hydrographic services to allow ships to safely navigate its oceans and keep Fiji at the cutting-edge of ocean science.
Last week, the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, with the Republic of Fiji Navy (RFN) celebrated the FHS’s golden jubilee.
During the 50th anniversary celebration, Mr Bainimarama said for thousands of years the ocean was Fiji’s only bridge to the world.
“Even as we’ve embraced the modern might of large-scale commercial air travel, shipping for Fiji is more critical today than ever,” he said.
“Food, construction materials, vehicles and other vital goods would not reach Fiji if it didn’t have a well-mapped port.
“Fiji relies heavily on its maritime charts of properly surveyed waters in order to navigate safely, echoing the work that FHS had done for 50 years.
“Without the proper charts and navigation equipment in Fijian waters, your boat could easily smash straight into any of the thousands of kilometres of reef surrounding our islands.
“Looking out here from the yacht club, every boat berthed in this harbour owes the integrity of its hull to the work of the women and men in this room (FHS office).
“I just returned to Suva from an overnight voyage aboard the RFNS Savenaca back from Kadavu. “It was pitch-black the whole way home.
Thanks in no small part to the mapping done by the FHS, we safely navigated through the North Astrolabe Reef, we passed nearby Beqa Passage and the Levu Passage ridge, all of which have been surveyed and chartered by the FHS, allowing vessels to safely traverse those waters.
“Today, we can take that safe journey for granted. Really, we — and thousands of other ships — owe that safety to the 50 years of service of the FHS, along with others like the UK Hydrography Office.”
He said the ocean was more than Fiji’s bridge to the world. “It represents a precious piece of who we are as people.
Overfishing, pollution and climate change all threaten to strip our ocean bare putting the future of every Fijian along with every other person on earth at risk,” he said.
“Fiji is leading the world down a better, bluer path. A future where all people live in harmony with sustainably managed oceans.
“FHS serves as our eyes to the ocean. Not only to our major ports, but to the reefs in the furthest maritime reaches of the country which coastal communities have relied for generations, to the high seas, to the hidden depths of our deepest passages, the FHS is quite literally deepening our knowledge of the ocean we are committed to protect.
“You are providing us the foundational information we need to conduct research and strategically cordon-off protected areas to preserve their rich bio-diversity.
“You may not do that research yourselves, but your data and intelligence make it possible. And that makes each of you stewards of the ocean.”
According to the Fiji Navy, the FHS also conducted an open day where the hydrographic office and the hydrographic vessel, RFNS Volasiga was opened to the public for visit.
The FHS also farewelled Royal New Zealand Navy Chief Petty Officer Thomas Chell who completed his work in Fiji in teaching the Leading Surveyor Recorders Course.
