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• • UNITED NATIONS
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E/ClJ.l4/ClJtT/60 E/CONF.43/60 20 June 1963
Original: ENGLISH
UNITED N,\TIONS REGICNJ.L CAETOGRf.PHIC CONFERENCE FOR AFRIC,\
Nairobi (Kenya),
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July 1963 Provisional agenda item 8HYDROGR,\PHY AND ITS IMPORTJ,NCE TO
DOCUMENTS OFFICE
FI I. I)' i: II P r
NO TO BE TAKEN OUT
MARITIME SJ.FETY l~ND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
(Co~unication sent by the Gcvernm3nt
0:
the United States of America)
n
For participants only-~
HYDROGRAPHY AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO MARITIME SAFETY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
By
William S. Davis
u.S. NAVAL OCEANOGRAPHIC OFFICE WASHINGTON, D.C.
Presented To The
United Nations Cartographic Conference for Africa Nairobi, Kenya
July 1-13, 1963
HYDROGRAPHY AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO MARITIME SAFETY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
by William S. Davis
U.S. NAVAL OCEANOGRAPHIC OFFICE
A large share of the world's commerce is carried between ports and countries in ships. These ships and their cargoes represent an enormous investment in money and carry crews and pass angers as well. Therefore it is essential that all the information necessary for the safe navigation of these ships between ports and across the oceans be available to the ship masters. Such information consists of nautical charts of various scales covering ports, coastal areas and the oceans, and books such as Sailing Direc- tions (Coast Pilots), Light Lists and Tide and Current Tables. New information on dangers and aids to navigation is developed continuously through the conduct of survey operations, the placement of buoys, and the destruction or erection of navigational aids such as light houses and conspicuous land marks. Consequently, the nautical charts and books of the navigators must be constantly corrected to include the latest information which is made available to them by radio broadcasts (for urgent information) and by printed Notice to Mariners (for important but less urgent information.) All of these activ-
ities
1. the conduct of surveys in ports, along the coasts and at sea, 2. the publication of nautical charts and books and
3. the improvement of the existing charts and books through the dissemination of information by radio and printed Notice to Mariners are the normal functions of a nation's hydrographic office.
Not all maritime nations have a Hydrographic Office at the present time. It is be- lieved that eventually each will establish such a service to assist in its economic de- velopment hy providing ship masters with the latest infonnation and thus make voyages between ports safer. Some comments concerning the establishment of a new Hydrographic Office follow:
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A new Hydrographic Office should concern itself first with estahlishing a system hy which all information pertaining to maritime safety is rapidly collected and evaluated at a central point and puhlished for the benefit of mariners as quickly as possible. Such information includes data on lights, beacons, buoys, recommended channels, least depths on shoals and in channels, wrecks, derelicts, and other items essential to safe navigation.
It is particularly important that a complete list of navigation lights and huoys be pub- lished as soon as possible. All possible use should be made of existing organizations and personnel (such as pilots, customs agents, light and buoy attendants, and ship mas- ters) for collecting and reporting all inform ation to the Hydrographic Office. The Hydro- graphic Office should then consolidate the inform ation and issue Notice to Mariners to ship masters and other Hydrographic Offices. This can be done inexpensively using mimeographing or other office type reproduction methods. Ifradio facilities exist, urgent information should be broadcast for the benefit of ships approaching the coasts. Personnel employed to carry out this maritime safety function should have had considerable expe- rience in navigating ocean-going ships.
Secondly, a new Hydrographic Office should endeavor to improve existing nautical ch arts of its principal ports and their approaches by conducting complete hydrographic surveys which include depth determination, location of all aids and dangers to navigation,
delineation of shoreline and harbor features, and tide, current and bottom characteristic observations, Here again, existing facilities and personnel should be utilized to the maximum extent. The vessels employed in pilot service and in tending buoys, lights, and heacons could be used as survey vessels by equipping them with suitable depth recorders and survey positioning equipment. High quality harbor surveys can he made by a six man crew using a boat as small as 26 feet equipped with a suitable depth recorder, two sex- tants, a protractor and a clock. Before such operations can hegin however, sufficient daymarks on shore must be located on the survey sheets by standard survey methods in- volving haseline measurements, triangulation, and azimuth determination. A tide staff or
automatic tide gage must he in operation during the period of the hydrographic survey so
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that all depths can he corrected to the same datum. A permanent tide gage at each prin- cipal port would be highly desirable. Personnel employed to conduct hydrographic sur- veys should be experienced in this type of survey. Civil engineers or land surveyors with some training or experience in hydrography generally make good hydrographic sur- veyors.
Upon completion of field survey operations in an area, the data must be carefully plotted and verified on the manuscript sheets before charts can be published. Publication of standard nautical charts of principal ports is the third most important function of a new Hydrographic Office. The preparation of a nautical chart original plate suitable for print- ing requires the services of a Cartographer experienced in nautical chart work. Cartog- raphers, civil engineers, hydrographic engineers, and in some cases, draftsmen familiar with the preparation of topographic maps or nautical charts provide a source of personnel for the production of a nautical chart. Itis not necessary, however, that a printing plant be organized at the Hydrographic Office if arrangements can be made to have the work done by other government or commercial printing facilities.
After a Hydrographic Office has a firmly established Navigational Warning system and has completed hydrographic surveys and ch arts of its principal ports, it will naturally expand its survey and charting activities to include all its coasts. This fourth function may require larger boats and additional personnel, but very large survey ships are not required if temporary bases for smaller ships can be established at various inhabited areas along the coast.
During harbor and coastal survey operations, the survey personnel should collect all the navigational information available so that eventually, a book of Sailing Directions may be compiled and published by the Hydrographic Office. Compilation of the Sailing Directions by a fully qualified navigator constitutes the fifth function of a Hydrographic Office and completes the list of services normally performed for the benefit of navigators.
Additional services, such as oceanographic surveys for the benefit of the fishing industry or science generally may well be added.
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In conclusion, the following points are emphasized:
1. The economic development of a maritime nation depends greatly on the sea transportation of materials and people.
2. Safe and economical sea transportation depends upon a high degree of maritime safety.
3. Maritime safety can only be maintained through the prompt dissemination of hydrographic information and
4. Prompt dissemination of hydrographic information can be accomplished when each maritime nation has established a Hydrographic Office.
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