Research vessel Janan yesterday began a three-day study of the environmental conditions in the Qatari Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as part of Qatar Marine Environmental Monitoring Programme.
The trip is being conducted by the Department of Monitoring and Environmental Laboratory at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) in co-operation with the Qatar University (QU) Environmental Science Centre with a specialised research team, the MME has said in a statement.
The initiative was launched at Doha Port in the presence of Hassan Ali al-Qassimi, director of the department, and a number of other MME officials and representatives of QU.
Al-Qassimi said the trip will last three days, during which the marine environment in the EEZ will be monitored. Preparations for the trip lasted for around six months.
He noted that the trip will record the latest changes in the environment, whether biological, physical or chemical, in addition to the special indicators related to the state of the marine environment compared to previous years. The trip will collect samples from the territorial waters of the country at various depths away from the coast.
This makes it a distinctive initiative as the previous trips collected samples from near the coast.
He added that there is a plan to conduct such trips ever six months or a year.
The ongoing trip is the first specialised research cruise launched to monitor the state of the marine environment in the country’s exclusive economic zone in about 15 years.
Officials and staff at the launch of Janan’s three-day trip. PICTURE: Ram Chand
