Fishing vessels to be monitored while anchored in PNG: NFA

PORT MORESBY, 02 May 2023 (THE NATIONAL) --- FISHING vessels in East New Britain will now be monitored in real time while anchored at Simpson harbour, according to the National Fisheries Authority (NFA).
NFA, in a statement, said Rabaul was now the busiest transhipment hub in the Pacific and, therefore, it was essential that the NFA engaged the most robust and modern surveillance tools to ensure the continuity and safety of fishing vessels using the port.
Last week, NFA’s monitoring control and surveillance unit (MCS) installed a new closed circuit television (CCTV) live-streaming tool into the communication and surveillance control centre of its Rabaul office.
“This 24-hour livestreaming capability will allow for fishing vessels to be monitored and surveilled in real time while anchored in Simpson Harbour,” the NFA said in a statement.
“This will allow visibility and oversight on all fisheries activities being undertaken, as well as ensuring a robust level of security is maintained.
“This CCTV tool will be an add-on resource to the already robust vessel monitoring and surveillance infrastructure in use by NFA, and will add yet another shield of surveillance and security for vessels making use of the port.
“Using the NFA’s satellite Fisheries Information Management Systems (iFims) the vessel monitoring system tracks the fishing vessels while out at sea.“Traditionally, this was the limit of the tracking capabilities of the MCS.”
However, with this new CCTV infrastructure, the cameras will automatically activate and focus up to a 10km radius on the incoming vessel once the ships reach the mouth of the harbour and a live-stream view of the vessel is enabled and accessible remotely from anywhere in the world.