Oman can act as a regional centre to issue early tsunami warnings and can also detect an oil spill in the strategically located Strait of Hormuz, an expert who helped set up the country's oceanographic system in 2004 has said.
Jeffrey Snider, marketing director, Lighthouse R&D, the Houston-based enterprise that installed Lighthouse Ocean Research Initiative (LORI) and monitors marine environment and studies deepwater current in the sultanate, said that the current system that covers Shinas and Ras al Hadd can be upgraded with sensors to locate the source of an oil spill or an oil catastrophe.
"The Strait of Hormuz has a complicated confluence of currents and it becomes imperative to monitor the route with caution," he said. The LORI system was upgraded in 2005 to the Seismic Tsunami Early Warning System (STEWS).
"Till now we operate only for the country, but Oman has the capacity to become a regional centre if it decides to interlink with other regional centres in India, Europe, US and other places," he said, explaining that once interlinked, Oman would be in a position to issue earthquake and tsunami warnings for the whole region.
The system currently helps the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to study the marine environment (red tide effect) and also allows enough time for the government to react if there were to be an eventuality, considering the high stakes that Oman has in the fishery business.
© Muscat Daily 2011
