ASEZA launches world’s first diving app offering underwater navigation

AMMAN — The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) on Saturday released the world’s first diving app offering personal GPS-based navigation technology underwater.

The app that enables divers worldwide to create their personal diving routes and identify Aqaba’s diving spots, which will be displayed on their smart phones or tablets and shared worldwide, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The app provides divers with the world’s first interactive 3D underwater maps and virtual diving experience opening up a window of opportunity to inspect more than 20 dive sites in Aqaba, 330km south of Amman, and the five man-made diving sites in the Gulf of Aqaba, ASEZA Spokesperson Abdul Mahdi Qatamin said.

The ASEZA has also developed waterproof dive cards that provide detailed descriptions of the five man-made diving sites in Aqaba, he added, noting that the cards show 3D views of the Hercules aircraft site, along with the Cedar Pride, Al Shorouk, tank and Tayong sites.

The app aims at promoting Aqaba’s diving sites, as well as promoting the Red Sea as a distinguished diving destination, he added.

Nayef Bakhit, chief commissioner of the ASEZA, and Aqaba Governor Saleh Nusseirat attended the launch ceremony.

The Gulf of Aqaba is a semi-enclosed water basin in the Red Sea, with a length of 170km, an average width of about 15km and a maximum depth of more than 1,800 metres.

Its water is warm year round, with the average temperature standing at 24°C, according to the society, which indicated that Jordan’s coastline represents the northernmost outcropping of coral reef in the world and has a high rate of salinity compared to other seas, according to the Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan.