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Geospatial Agency Map Was Wrong By 8 Miles when Minesweeper Grounded on Reef
The January grounding of the minesweeper USS Guardian in a Philippine coral reef was caused in large part by a National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) map that was, quite simply, wrong by eight nautical miles, Breaking Defense has learned.
The Sulu Sea grounding prompted NGA to order an agency-wide review of the nautical charts detailing the entire surface of the earth covered by the oceans. Also, NGA and the Navy have convened a team of maritime experts to take "an exhaustive look to make sure we are as sound as we can be," Phillips told me. The error boiled down to someone at NGA failing to update a map with corrected data after cartographers discovered an inaccuracy. Tragically, the two other maps to which the crew had access -- but did not use -- presented the correct information, Phillips said. At the time of the grounding, environmentalists criticized the US Navy for damaging Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Those opposed to America's close relationship with the Philippines pointed to the grounding and subsequent legal defense of the crew by the Philippine government as proof of the inequitable -- dare one say neo-colonial -- relationship between the two countries. And old salts wondered just what the hell the ship's captain had done. Posted by: Pappy 2013-07-29 |
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