People from Niutao and Nanumanga, outer islands of Tuvalu, rely heavily on shipping operations for the supply of life’s necessities but also to prepare and respond to a crisis or emergency, according to Deltares’ latest announcement.
New maritime infrastructures are expected to improve livelihoods for the local population and the resilience of Tuvalu’s maritime sector, said the Delft based institute for applied research in the field of water and subsurface.
The World Bank has contracted Deltares to carry out an exploratory study to be used as a basis for the development of new ship landing facilities at the two islands.
Under the agreement, Deltares will quantify present and future coastal hazards at the two islands based on the use of the Delft3D and XBeach models, and an assessment of potential climate change effects.
Prospective locations for the development of two new ports will also be identified. At those locations, preliminary port layouts will be outlined, supported by initial cost-estimates of the proposed infrastructures.
The vulnerability of these infrastructures to present and future coastal hazards will also be evaluated. In addition, the possible impact of the new maritime infrastructures on the surrounding coastline (i.e. in terms of morphodynamic changes and coastal flooding) will be analysed.
Developing ship landing facilities at the two islands would directly improve the living conditions of the inhabitants by providing safer, more reliable access to maritime services, and being better prepared to respond to crises and/or emergencies, attributes that are critical in vulnerable areas throughout the Polynesian islands.
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