BY GEORGINA KEKEA
PRIME Minister Rick Hou has joined the Australian High Commissioner, His Excellency, Roderick Brazier to visit the ship tasked to carry out marine survey for the Coral Sea project.
On Saturday, the marine vessel Northern Endeavour stopped in at Honiara Port to survey the area where the Coral Sea Cable System will connect to Honiara.
On this occasion, the Prime Minister and government officials had the opportunity to go on board the vessel to see the facilities. In a joint Press Release by the Australian High Commission and the Office of the Prime Minister, the visit is for the delegation to meet the crew and understand more about the process for delivering this infrastructure.
Prime Minister Rick Hou says, there has been a lot of work done behind the scenes since the signing of the tri-party agreement in July this year.
“This is yet another tangible development and step forward in the progress of the submarine cable project”, he said.
Meanwhile, Australian High Commissioner, Roderick Brazier says he is excited to be able to celebrate this important step with the Prime Minister.
“It has the potential to be truly transformative and I am excited to be able to celebrate this important step towards its completion with the Prime Minister,” Brazier said.
The preliminary planning by the RV Northern Endeavour ensures the manufacture and installation of the cable is precise as possible.
The Northern Endeavour can be able to carry out its work, regardless of poor weather and sea conditions.
“We can work in surprisingly wet weather conditions. Different parts of our work have different windows. Different wind speeds, wave heights where we have to stop. But we can generally always keep busy on something,” Sandy Wilson, of EGS said.
The estimated total project expenditure of the Coral Sea Cable System is AUD$200m. This is an estimated SBD$1.15 billion.
