Macao's new sea chart published
( 2001-10-05 09:56 ) (8 )

The first sea chart mapped by the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government started to be published Thursday.

Wong Soi Man, director of the Port Authority of the SAR government, said that the chart is of great significance for Macao to strengthen management on marine transport safety and develop basic facilities in neighboring waters.

The new chart covers Macao Peninsula, Taipa Island and Coloane Island and features the latest data on the depth, navigation marks and coastal lines of Macao's neighboring waters, with a scale of 1:15,000.

Captions of the chart are written in both Chinese and Portuguese, while English directions are added to some important parts to make convenience for the pilots of foreign vessels.

Wong said that her port authority will also cooperate with the Hong Kong SAR government to develop an electronic sea chart soon.

Macao began to map sea charts early in the 18th century. The latest one was published in May, 1999.