The 5th Meeting of the IHO Council was held on the IHO premises in Monaco from 19 to 21 October 2021. Due to specific circumstances related to the pandemic, this meeting, like the previous one, was held by videoconference, but in a slightly modified, so-called hybrid format. In addition to the IHO representatives, several representatives of the Member States also participated in the meeting. The Republic of Croatia was represented by its delegates from the Hydrographic Institute: Vinka Kolić, director, and Željko Bradarić, assistant director for international and EU affairs.
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental technical and consultative organization which through its activities contributes towards coordinated action of hydrographic offices, primarily aiming to support the safety of navigation by providing high-quality official navigation charts and publications as well as urgent navigation information. Croatia is a full member of the IHO, and for its continued work and contribution has been recognized as a proactive member within the hydrographic community.
The Council is the main operational body of the IHO, which during the inter-Assembly period implements the Assembly decisions, coordinates the IHO activities within the framework of three work programmes and two committees, analyses the implementation of strategic goals and brings forward proposals for consideration by the Assembly and the IHO member states.
The 5th Meeting of the IHO Council, according to the agenda, addressed regular issues in compliance with the Council rules of procedures (https://iho.int/en/5th-council-meeting-2021).
Among the five topics that were the subject of consideration, discussion, and conclusions, the two most important should be highlighted. The first concerns the proposal to revise the implementation plan of the S-100 IHO standard series, with an emphasis on the S-101 standard which refers to the new generation of electronic navigation charts, and several other standards for displaying additional data in the so-called "Monitoring" mode of ECDIS operation. The second topic related to the presentation of methodology and performance indicators for each of the three IHO work programs, in accordance with the objectives defined in the recently adopted IHO Strategic Plan. After extensive and constructive discussions on all topics and issues, a total of sixty decisions and activities were adopted.