After nearly a century in Monaco, the International Hydrographic Organisation will enter its second century under a revised governance structure, with the 1st Session of the IHO Assembly taking place from April 24 to 28, 2017.

Over 300 delegates representing its 85 member states, together with representatives from international and non-governmental organisations and observers from other states and industry will meet in the Auditorium Rainier III.

The IHO is the intergovernmental consultative and technical organisation whose principal aim is to ensure that all the world’s seas, oceans and navigable waters are adequately surveyed and charted.

There will be plenty for the IHO Assembly to consider, at a time when mankind is looking ever more closely at the seas and oceans in terms of its environmental impact and its economic resources. Yet, our knowledge of most of the seas and oceans remains relatively poor, the IHO says. There are better maps of the Moon and Mars than for most of the oceans. IHO figures show that less than 15 percent of the deeper ocean waters have been directly measured, while up to 50 percent of the world’s coastal waters have yet to be surveyed.

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