Pacific States and IHO Sign Up for Closer Ties

In April the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO, Monaco) agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). The SPC, as an organisation, assists the States of the Pacific region by delivering a wide range of technical, research, educational and planning services. SPC headquarters are in Noumea, New Caledonia. Establishing closer ties with the SPC has been a goal of the South West Pacific Hydrographic Commission (SWPHC) for some time.

The Pacific Community, formerly the Pacific Island Commission, comprises 26 States: American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands, France, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States of America, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna.

The MoU between the two inter-governmental organisations describes the aims, roles and mechanisms for improving regional hydrographic capability. It has already helped to raise the levels of awareness of the importance of hydrography and nautical charting among the SPC Member State governments. The MoU provides a single, high-level point of reference for the practical initiatives that both the IHO and the associated SWPHC will undertake in the future. This includes training and capacity building in the region, and notably, establishing an improved hydrographic surveying capability in SPC's own Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC). This could then be deployed throughout the region assisting those States with little or no hydrographic surveying capacity of their own.

Image: Admiral Maratos signs the MoU on behalf of IHO; meanwhile Dr Jimmie Rodgers, Director-General of SPC signs on behalf of SPC, in the company of Dr Russell Howarth, Director of SOPAC.