The World Hydrography Day (WHD) is celebrated annually on 21 June. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and its full member states mark this day with the aim of informing the wider public of the importance of hydrography in everyday life. For further information, see the IHO press release
This year, to mark 100 years since the 1st International Hydrographic Conference was held in London in 1919, and the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB) established in Monaco in 1921, preparations have started for celebration of the IHO anniversary in the period 2019 – 2021.
The International Hydrographic Organization, as international umbrella organization for hydrography, through its rules and recommendations, contributes towards achieving standardization in the hydrographic survey, connects national hydrographic offices, coordinates their activities to promote safe navigation all over the world’s seas and achieve uniformity in hydrographic documents, and develops the sciences in the field of hydrography. The IHO currently consists of 90 member states, and this number is continuously increasing (www.hhi.int).
Hydrographic Institute of the Republic of Croatia (HHI), as national hydrographic office, has been member of the IHO since 1950, being recognized within the IHO for its proactive role and measurable contribution towards achieving the IHO strategic goals and programmes.
In addition, the HHI contributes towards maintaining a high level of the hydrographic-navigational segment of the safety at sea by providing users on board with navigational safety information in its official editions of nautical charts, both in analogue and digital form.
The HHI also boasts full compliance with the obligation to release electronic navigational charts for all usage bands, covering the entire area under maritime jurisdiction of the Republic of Croatia.
Special communication was issued on the recent release of 200th ENC cell (http://www.hhi.hr/pr/onenews/263). Transition to a new generation of ENCs (ENC S-101) has been recognized as one of the greatest challenges, where all HHI capacities will be engaged for the next three-year period.
Recognizing the importance of hydrographic data for other purposes and users, HHI provides and continuously improves its licensing model for using the HHI data, taking into account responsibilities resulting from regulations on ensuring availability of the data collected through public service (http://www.hhi.hr/staticpages/index/licence).
By recent establishing of a web GIS service, the first stage in the development of Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure has been accomplished, as part of National Spatial Data Infrastructure, in accordance with national and international regulations (https://www.hhi.hr/gis).