IHB File N° S1/5012
CIRCULAR LETTER 85/2015
09 December 2015
PROPOSED MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN
THE INTERNATIONAL HYDROGRAPHIC ORGANIZATION AND
THE INTERNATIONAL CABLE PROTECTION COMMITTEE
Reference: IHO Resolution 5/1957 as amended - IHO relations with other organizations
Dear Hydrographer,
1. The International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) is a non-profit corporation that was
established in 1958 to represent the international submarine cable industry and promote the security
and safeguarding of submarine cables against man-made and natural hazards.
2. Membership of ICPC is open to submarine cable owners, submarine cable maintenance
authorities, submarine cable system manufacturers, cable ship operators, submarine cable route survey
companies and to governments. The ICPC is currently composed of 162 members from 65 countries
who represent more than 98% of installed submarine cables. The organization includes an Executive
Committee, composed of 17 elected members, an outsourced Secretariat, an International Law
Advisor, a Marine Environmental Advisor and six Working Groups. Its registered office is located in
London, United Kingdom.
3. Through routine contacts related to the provision of cable data for charting purposes, the
Directing Committee and the ICPC Executive Committee identified the need to foster cooperation
between both organizations on matters related to submarine cable operations. Following further
discussions at the ICPC Plenary Meeting held in Hong Kong in April 2015, where the IHO was kindly
represented by Mr NG Kwok-Chu, Hydrographer of Hong Kong China, the ICPC Executive
Committee agreed to participate in the 7th meeting of the Hydrographic Services and Standards
Committee (HSSC) which took place in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 10 to 13 November.
4. The HSSC welcomed the participation of the ICPC representatives and benefited from an
informative presentation on the issues associated with submarine cables1. The Committee
acknowledged the areas of common interest between the IHO and the ICPC and supported the ICPC’s
proposal to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the IHO and the ICPC. A draft
MoU was proposed by the ICPC at HSSC-7. Further to its review by the Chairs of the Nautical
Cartography Working Group and the Nautical Information Provision Working Group, a revised draft
was agreed between the Directing Committee and the ICPC Executive Committee.
5. The proposed text of the MoU is provided in Annex A (in English only). The objective of the
MoU is primarily to assist in facilitating and harmonizing the timely depiction of submarine cables on
nautical charts and products through appropriate standards and procedures and therefore to contribute
to the protection of submarine cable infrastructure. The MoU also addresses the development of
procedures to encourage and facilitate the provision of survey data, or metadata, collected as part of
cable laying or maintenance activities, to the IHO Data Centre for Digital Bathymetry (DCDB).
1
The ICPC presentation is available from the HSSC page of the IHO website
(https://www.iho.int/mtg_docs/com_wg/HSSC/HSSC7/HSSC7-07.12A_ICPC IHO November Busan Presentation Final.pdf).
6. Subject to any comments received from IHO Member States and noting that the Chairman of
the ICPC Executive Committee stands ready to sign on behalf of the ICPC, the President of the
Directing Committee will sign the proposed Memorandum on behalf of the IHO.
7. Member States are kindly requested to review the proposed text at Annex A and to provide their
comments, if any, to the IHB no later than 29 February 2016.
On behalf of the Directing Committee
Yours sincerely,
Gilles BESSERO
Director
Annex A: Draft text of a Memorandum of Understanding between the IHO and the ICPC (in
English only)
2
Annex A to IHO CL 85/2015
S1/5012
(DRAFT) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE
INTERNATIONAL HYDROGRAPHIC ORGANIZATION AND THE
INTERNATIONAL CABLE PROTECTION COMMITTEE LIMITED
The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to specify the scope of co-operation
between the International Hydrographic Organization (hereinafter referred to as “the
IHO”) and the International Cable Protection Committee Ltd (hereinafter referred to as
“the ICPC”).
WHEREAS
The IHO is an intergovernmental consultative and technical organization that was established
to support safety of navigation and the protection of the marine environment. Its principal
aim is to ensure that all the world’s seas, oceans and navigable waters are surveyed and
charted, through the coordinated endeavours of national Hydrographic Offices (HOs).
The objectives of the IHO are:
To promote the use of hydrography for the safety of navigation and all other
marine purposes and to raise global awareness of the importance of hydrography;
To improve global coverage, availability and quality of hydrographic data,
information, products and services and to facilitate access to such data,
information, products and services;
To improve global hydrographic capability, capacity, training, science and
techniques;
To establish and enhance the development of international standards for
hydrographic data, information, products, services and techniques and to achieve
the greatest possible uniformity in the use of these standards;
To give authoritative and timely guidance on all hydrographic matters to States
and international organizations;
To facilitate coordination of hydrographic activities among the Member States;
and
To enhance cooperation on hydrographic activities among States on a regional
basis.
The ICPC is a non-profit corporation that represents the international submarine cable
industry and has been established to promote the security and safeguarding of submarine
cables against man-made and natural hazards via delivery of the following services:
Producing and maintaining industry recommendations that define the minimum
standards for cable route planning, installation, operation, maintenance and
protection.
Facilitating the exchange of technical, environmental and legal information
pertaining to submarine cable systems.
Responding to general enquiries on matters relating to international law and
environmental issues in relation to submarine cables.
Monitoring of emerging legislation and providing information wherever necessary
to protect the legal rights of submarine cables.
Promoting awareness of the strategic, economic and social benefits of submarine
cables, especially to Government agencies, the fishing industry and other seabed
users.
Sponsorship of projects and/or programmes that are agreed to be beneficial for the
protection of submarine cable systems.
Providing relevant information to prospective new cable owners to encourage the
adoption of minimum industry standards.
Facilitating effective communication between the members of the ICPC and the
leading suppliers of technology in the submarine cable industry.
Developing and maintaining a website to serve the common interest of the ICPC’s
members via public and private (password protected) areas.
Developing affiliations with other international and national associations
representing seabed users.
While the IHO has a strong interest in achieving the greatest possible uniformity in nautical
charting products such as nautical charts and in charting standards, safety at sea, and
protection of the marine environment, the ICPC has a strong interest in the protection of
submarine cable infrastructure and ensuring that submarine cable activities necessary to
achieve that protection have minimal impact on the marine environment.
Increased cooperation between the IHO and the ICPC should help to facilitate:
The development of a uniform set of cable charting standards for submarine cables
adopted globally by HOs;
The development of compatible digital input formats for as-laid cable data that address
charting requirements;
Global consistency in the treatment of charting data for cables to facilitate data re-use
by HOs around the world, and to allow data correlation without further manipulation;
Optimization of resources to reduce lead times from data availability from the relevant
cable operator to the publishing of updates to nautical charts;
The development of a global approach to the issuance of Notices to Mariners for new
cables;
2
The development of standardized information in nautical publications drawing the
mariners’ attention to the necessity to protect cables against damage caused by ship
operations;
The development of charting policies that address hazards to submarine cables from
deep sea mining, oil and gas activities as well as renewable energy developments;
The development of procedures to encourage and facilitate the provision of survey
data, or metadata, collected as part of cable laying or maintenance activities, to the
IHO Data Centre for Digital Bathymetry (DCDB).
THE IHO AND THE ICPC THEREFORE AGREE:
1. To consult, where appropriate and practical, on issues of mutual interest with a view to
promoting or enhancing a better understanding of their respective activities and to
better delineate such activities between the two organizations; and to co-operate,
where appropriate and practical, in the collection and exchange of standardized data
and information.
2. To invite each other’s representatives to attend and participate in the meetings of their
respective governing bodies (or workshops or working groups) in accordance with the
rules of procedures of such bodies; and to conduct, where appropriate, co-operative
studies and seminars.
3. To discuss at least annually the effectiveness of this Memorandum of Understanding
and any measures that may be required to improve co-operation between the IHO and
the ICPC.
4. That this Memorandum of Understanding is without prejudice to agreements, legally
binding or otherwise, concluded by either party with other organizations and
programmes.
5. That the co-operation between the two parties is subject to the requirements of
confidentiality of data and information imposed upon each by its rules of procedures,
articles, Membership Agreements or other such relevant documentation. Each party
agrees to obtain the written consent of the other prior to disclosing any proprietary
materials of the other to any third party.
6. That this Memorandum of Understanding will come into effect upon its signature by
the President of the Directing Committee of the International Hydrographic Bureau
(IHB) (“President of the Directing Committee of the International Hydrographic
Bureau (IHB)” to be replaced by “Secretary-General of the IHO” when the Protocol of
Amendments to the IHO Convention enters into force) and the Chairman of the ICPC.
It may be terminated by any of the parties by giving to the other a written notice three
months prior to the proposed date of termination.
7. That nothing in the Memorandum of Understanding limits the independence and
freedom of action of either organization to consider and independently act on matters
3
of ocean policy and law, regardless of geography and is not be considered a delegation
of any authority or creating an agency relationship of any kind whatsoever.
8. That nothing in this Memorandum of Understanding shall bind any of the Member
States of the IHO jointly or severally. Similarly, the Agreement shall not bind any of
the Members of the ICPC jointly or severally.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed the present Memorandum of
Understanding in duplicate.
Signature Signature
Neil Rondorf Robert Ward
Chairman President
For and on behalf of the ICPC For and on behalf of the IHO
Date: DD:MMMM:YYYY Date: DD:MMMM:YYYY
4
Saatja: REG <
[email protected]>
Saatmisaeg: 11. detsember 2015. a. 11:12
Adressaat: 'Argentina'; 'Argentina'; 'Australia'; 'Australia'; 'Bahrain';
'Bahrain';
'Bangladesh'; 'Bangladesh3'; 'Banglasedh2'; 'Belgium'; 'Belgium';
'Belgium';
'Belgium'; 'Belgium'; 'Belgium'; 'Brazil'; 'Brazil'; 'Brunei'; 'Brunei';
'Canada';
'Canada'; 'Chile'; 'Chile'; 'China'; 'China'; 'Croatia'; 'Croatia';
'Croatia'; 'Cuba';
'Cuba'; 'Cyprus'; 'Denmark'; 'Denmark'; 'Denmark'; 'DomRep'; 'DPRK';
'DPRK';
'Egypt-ENHG'; T�nis Siilanarusk; VA_hnt; 'Fiji'; 'Fiji'; 'Finland';
'France';
'Georgia'; 'Germany'; 'Germany'; 'Germany'; 'Greece'; 'Greece';
'Guatemala';
'Iceland'; 'India'; 'India'; 'Indonesia'; 'Indonesia'; 'Iran'; 'Iran';
'Iran'; 'Iran';
'Ireland'; 'Italy'; 'Jamaica'; 'Japan'; 'Korea'; 'Kuwait'; 'Latvia';
'Malaysia';
'Malaysia'; 'Mauritius'; 'Mauritius'; 'Mauritius'; 'Montenegro';
'Mozambique';
'Mozambique'; 'Mozambique'; 'Myanmar'; 'Myanmar'; 'Myanmar';
'Myanmar'; 'Netherlands'; 'NewZealand'; 'Nigeria'; 'Norway'; 'Oman';
'Oman';
'Pakistan'; 'PapuaNG'; 'Philippines'; 'Poland'; 'Portugal'; 'Portugal';
'Portugal';
'Qatar'; 'Romania'; 'Russia'; 'SAfrica'; 'SaudiArabia'; 'SaudiArabia';
'Singapore';
'Slovenia'; 'Slovenia'; 'SriLanka'; 'Suriname'; 'Suriname'; 'Suriname';
'Sweden';
'Sweden'; 'Syria'; 'Thailand'; 'Thailand'; 'Thailand'; 'Tonga'; 'Tonga';
'Trinidad';
'Trinidad'; 'Tunisia'; 'Tunisia'; 'Turkey'; 'UAE'; 'Ukraine'; 'Ukraine';
'UnitedKingdom'; 'Uruguay'; 'USNAVY'; 'USNOAA'; 'USNOAA'; 'USNOAA';
'USNOAA'; 'USNOAA'; 'Venezuela'; 'Vietnam'; 'Astrid.Kalvik'; 'C
Andreasen';
'Celine Buisson Rosvold'; 'ECC'; 'eva.hegland'; 'hs-varna';
'ilda.becirovic'; 'info';
'inst.cartograf'; 'J Lowell NGA'; 'J Rogers NGA'; 'jacek.jagodzinski'; 'K
Alexander
NGA'; 'Minika Bjorge'; 'P Doherty NGA'; 'solvi.tunge'; 'stig.osaland';
'svein.skjaeveland'; 'tonje.mevatne'; 'tore.halset'
Teema: CL 85/2015 -Deadline 29 Feb 2016
Manused: CL85.docx
Dear Hydrographer,
Please find attached herewith :
CL 85/2015 : PROPOSED MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE
INTERNATIONAL HYDROGRAPHIC ORGANIZATION AND
THE INTERNATIONAL CABLE PROTECTION COMMITTEE
Yours sincerely,
IHB
M.MOLLET