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WORLD HYDROGRAPHY DAY 2008

ADDRESS BY COMMANDER BORDER PROTECTION COMMAND

20 June 2008

Your Excellency, Mr Charles Lepani, Papua New Guinea High Commissioner to Australia; The Honourable Mr Greg Combet, MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement; Ms Sharon Bird, MP, Member for Cunningham; Mr Jim Turnour, MP, Member for Leichhardt The Hydrographer of Australia, CDRE Rod Nairn; Mr Joseph Kunda, Hydrographer of Papua New Guinea; Ladies and Gentlemen;

As part of Navy’s Hydrographic Meteorological and Oceanographic Force Element Group, the Australian Hydrographic Service fulfils a number of important military and commercial roles. Today, hydrographic survey continues to play a key role as a public good in activities that maintain and enhance Australia’s national authority, influence and well-being. Tomorrow, on 21 June 2008, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) will celebrate the third annual United Nations World Hydrography Day. The theme for the 2008 celebrations is …. Capacity Building, a vital tool to assist the IHO in achieving its mission and objectives. In keeping with this theme, today we take the opportunity to recognise Australia’s hydrographic contribution to capacity building

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in our region, and to celebrate the achievements of Australia’s own Hydrographic Service.

Capacity building is a key priority for the IHO. This year’s World Hydrography Day celebrations highlight the IHO’s commitment to supporting technology and skills transfer between established and newly-developing Hydrographic Offices in the interests of enhancing global navigational safety, maritime trade and protection of the marine environment. To support this priority, the IHO has defined a three-phase development strategy to build national hydrographic capacity worldwide.

Phase One focuses on encouraging all States which have navigable waters, to recognise their national responsibilities for the provision of hydrographic services and the effective collection and dissemination of marine safety information. This first stage is essential in order to maintain existing charts and nautical publications to enable safe navigation. It can be met either by a State developing a national hydrographic capability or by making an agreement for another State to provide these services on its behalf.

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The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) assumed responsibility from the Royal Navy for hydrographic surveys in Australian waters in 1920. The Australian Hydrographic Service took over the responsibility for producing hydrographic charts of Australia and its territories, including Papua New Guinea, from the UK Hydrographic Office in 1942. Following PNG independence, Australia agreed through a 1978 Memorandum of Understanding to continue to support PNG in hydrographic surveying and to publish nautical charts of PNG waters on their behalf. This arrangement is consistent with the intent and spirit of this year’s World Hydrography Day and continues to be of significant benefit to both nations.

Phase Two of the International Hydrographic Organization’s guidance on capacity building involves the provision of advice and training assistance to support the creation of a basic hydrographic surveying capacity in a particular country.

In the 1980’s under the Defence Cooperation Program, Australia provided assistance to regional neighbours in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and PNG. Over the last 10 years, the RAN Hydrographic School has accepted and trained 27 officers and sailors from regional nations in the

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internationally accredited Category B Hydrographic Surveying course. This includes 14 students from New Zealand, four from Malaysia, three from the Philippines, two each from Indonesia, and Vietnam, and one each from Papua New Guinea and Thailand. Such training commitment and support continues to this day.

Phase Three supports further development of a national hydrographic service including such capabilities as the production of traditional paper charts, Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) and nautical publications.

In 2007 and 2008 the Australian Hydrographic Service provided nautical cartographic training to civilian and service personnel from Papua New Guinea, Oman and Malaysia.

In addition, the Australian Hydrographic Service has managed the PNG Hydrographic Chart Recompilation and Modernization Project on behalf of the Asian Development Bank. We will hear more about this project shortly.

Meeting the intent and spirit of the IHO’s World ENC Database principles, the Australian Hydrographic Service has established the Australian Regional ENC Coordinating

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Centre (AusRENC) for the validation, harmonisation and world-wide distribution of ENCs through the International Centre for ENCs. AusRENC services have been offered to regional hydrographic offices. To date Land Information New Zealand has taken up the offer, while several SE Asian nations have shown interest in joining this regional network.

Underpinning the IHO capacity building strategy is a four step process of awareness, assessment, analysis and action. By following this coordinated manner, the IHO capacity building strategy helps Hydrographic Offices throughout the world develop appropriate levels of hydrographic capability.

Most importantly, it assists States without any existing hydrographic capability to establish the fundamental capacity to comply with international conventions and regulations. That is, to arrange for the collection and compilation of hydrographic data and the publication, dissemination and keeping up to date of all nautical information necessary for safe navigation as well as for the protection of the marine environment.

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Limited human and financial resources continue to pose a challenge for the IHO and its member States, including Australia, in implementing this capacity building strategy. However, the support of international agencies can accelerate the hydrographic capacity building process. An example of this international collaborative assistance is being highlighted here today.

On World Hydrography Day 2008, other events such as this are being hosted world-wide. These events will serve to raise awareness of the importance of the IHO capacity building program as an effective tool in improving the quality of hydrography and charting globally, thus supporting safety of navigation, maritime trade and contributing to the protection of the environment.

Australia is an island nation, dependent on maritime trade valued at close to $Bn300 annually. 99.9% of our total trade by weight is carried by ships. Over 25,000 port calls are made annually by vessels involved in international trade. The Australian Government has recently announced the formation of Infrastructure Australia to oversee development of crucial national infrastructure including ports and access to ports by road and rail. Hydrographic surveying and nautical charting forms a

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significant part of that national infrastructure providing access to those ports from the sea. In boosting the economy's productive capacity, hydrography could be considered as one key enabler that underpins any activity to unlock maritime infrastructure bottlenecks.

In line with this year’s theme of World Hydrography Day, today we have the opportunity to learn a little more about the contribution the Hydrographic Service has made to the region. The PNG Hydrographic Chart Recompilation and Modernization Project is but one shining example of such collaborative engagement that will realise considerable regional benefits now and into the future.