The Impact of the First Egyptian Local Differential GPS (DGPS) Network on Marine Navigation in Egypt

Staff Commodore Eng. Hassan El-Saadawy

Abstract:	On the 4 of February 1997, the Egyptian Ports & Lighthouses Administration signed a contract to install six DGPS reference stations that would cover most of the Egyptian coasts on the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Suez (GOS), the Gulf of Aqaba (GOA) and the Red Sea. The stations are presently under construction and scheduled to be fully operational towards the end of 1998. The purpose of this paper is to show how this network emerged from the confluence of each of: a vital need to enhance navigation in Egypt, through the coverage of all its coasts by accurate radio positioning service, and, with the newly available DGPS technology. The paper also discusses the necessity for providing fully laden VLCC, known as problem vessels, navigating through the narrow lanes of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in GOS, with very accurate absolute lateral speed indications, in order to prevent lateral drift of those ships during restricted night visibility and subsequent catastrophic grounding on the shoals, or collision with the oil rigs that are spread over the area around those schemes. The paper demonstrates that lateral absolute speeds indications obtained from DGPS receivers on board those vessels is the unique solution for preventing such disastrous slips. Moreover, the paper discusses how that DGPS network can be used as a back bone for a marine control system that controls navigation in the Suez Canal effectively and economically.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 11th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1998) September 15 - 18, 1998 Nashville, TN
Pages:	1285 - 1289
Cite this article:	El-Saadawy, Staff Commodore Eng. Hassan, "The Impact of the First Egyptian Local Differential GPS (DGPS) Network on Marine Navigation in Egypt," Proceedings of the 11th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1998), Nashville, TN, September 1998, pp. 1285-1289.
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