As per the press release of NOAA one of its technologically advanced hydrographic survey vessels, Thomas Jefferson will depart its Norfolk, Va. homeport on April 6 to conduct a five-month long effort to map the seafloor and look for hazards to navigation off the Gulf coast. Cmdr. Shepard Smith, Thomas Jefferson’s commanding officer, said that large number of hurricanes has affected the Gulf of Mexico in recent years, and the work of NOAA ship will pinpoint the resulting hazards and shoals in these busy waters.
The main purpose of Thomas Jefferson’s mission is to collect and process the data needed to maintain and update the nautical charts along the U.S. East Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Capt. John Lowell, director of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, told that with tremendous growth in the size and draft of commercial vessels, surveying coastal areas and sea lanes helps to support America’s maritime economy.
According to the press information waterborne cargo contributes more than $742 billion to the nation’s economy, and NOAA’s hydrographic surveys provide real support for continuing growth in maritime trade. In 2005, Thomas Jefferson conducted hydrographic surveys to support safe navigation and commerce following Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.
