With an increasing number of submarines in the region, the Singapore navy has launched a portal capable of providing these stealthy watercraft with real-time information on potential hazards, including deep-sea oil rigs. Likening the new Submarine Safety Information Portal to a Google map of the sea, Col David Foo, Commanding Officer of the Submarine Squadron, said that the portal would help submarines navigate amid unmanned underwater vehicles and warship exercises out at sea. There are currently over 200 submarines in the Asia-Pacific region, with the number set to grow to over 250 by 2030. Stressing that the new information portal would not track the movement of submarines, Col Foo said that it would capture other hazards, such as seismic activity, instead. While it is still in the beta phase, Col Foo said that there have been “a lot of” interested countries.

Source: Bangkok Post May 19, 2017 13:30 UTC