NGA’s Map Was Wrong By 8 Miles When The USS Guardian Grounded On A Reef

Untold Tale Behind USS Guardian Reef Grounding: NGA’s Map Was Wrong By 8 Miles -- Breaking Defense

WASHINGTON: The January grounding of the minesweeper USS Guardian in a Philippine coral reef was caused in large part by a National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) map that was, quite simply, wrong by eight nautical miles, Breaking Defense has learned.

“It really was just a terrible fluke that caused the error,” NGA spokeswoman Christine Phillips said in a frank discussion of the incident and its aftermath.

The Sulu Sea grounding prompted NGA to order an agency-wide review of the nautical charts detailing the entire surface of the earth covered by the oceans. Also, NGA and the Navy have convened a team of maritime experts to take “an exhaustive look to make sure we are as sound as we can be,” Phillips told me.

The error boiled down to someone at NGA failing to update a map with corrected data after cartographers discovered an inaccuracy.

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My Comment: This grounding could have been far worse.