IHB Files No. S3/0104, S3/4204
CIRCULAR LETTER 64/2015
31 August 2015
REVISED MANAGEMENT, REVIEW AND MONITORING OF NEW INT CHARTS
Reference:
A: Document IRCC7-06B – Management and Monitoring of the IHO INT Chart Collection.
Dear Hydrographer,
1. Decision 2.4 of the 5th Extraordinary International Hydrographic Conference … tasked IRCC to
review arrangements for the collection and examination of INT charts currently regulated by Article
19 of the IHO General Regulations and IHO Resolution 1/1992 (Monitoring of INT Charts) and to
consider the need to amend or develop relevant IHO Resolutions, taking into account the comments
from the Conference.
2. The seventh meeting of the Inter-Regional Coordination Committee (IRCC-7) took place in
Mexico City, Mexico, from 1 to 3 June 2015. As directed by the Conference, the IRCC considered
the arrangements for the collection and examination of INT charts in conjunction with a proposal
submitted to IRCC-7 by the IHB (Reference A), concerning practical revised arrangements for the
management and monitoring of the IHO INT Chart Collection. As a result, the IRCC, through
Decision IRCC-7.3, decided to implement a two-year trial procedure.
3. The draft report, lists of decisions and actions of IRCC-7 are available on the IHO website at:
www.iho.int > Committees&WG > IRCC > IRCC7 > Documents
4. This Circular Letter describes the two-year trial procedure for the review of new INT charts and
the subsequent inclusion of those charts in the IHB INT Chart Reference Collection, as agreed by
IRCC-7. The procedure is to be implemented by the relevant Regional INT Chart Coordinators (or
INT Charting Coordination Working Group - ICCWG).
5. The IRCC invited (see Action IRCC7/27):
a. New INT Chart Producer Nations to provide the first edition of any INT chart to the
relevant Regional INT Chart Coordinator (or ICCWG) for review as soon as convenient
during the production cycle;
b. INT Chart Coordinators/ICCWGs to manage the review of any first edition INT chart
produced by a new INT Chart Producer Nation to verify its compliance with the IHO
standards, and to provide feedback to the Producer Nation and to report results to the next
RHC meeting;
c. All INT Chart Producer Nations to provide first editions and new editions of INT charts to
the relevant Regional INT Chart Coordinator (or ICCWG) three months prior to every RHC
meeting to enable the Regional INT Chart Coordinator (or ICCWG) to validate the current
INT chart scheme;
d. All editions of INT charts submitted under actions a) and b) to be subsequently forwarded to
the IHB to be included in the IHB INT Chart Reference Collection, for internal use; and
e. All Member States to provide an update to the IHO published list of on-line chart
catalogues, either directly or systematically when updating the Yearbook.
6. The IRCC invites the Chairs of the Regional Hydrographic Commissions (RHCs) to ensure that
the above actions are implemented, as soon as possible, and not later than 31 October 2015.
7. In order to facilitate the work of the Regional INT Chart Coordinators (or ICCWG) in
implementing the revised procedures, the IHB:
a. will propose that the Hydrographic Services and Standards Committee (HSSC) considers
tasking the Nautical Cartography Working Group (NCWG) to prepare a “basic quality
assurance check-list template” for use by INT Chart Coordinators/ICCWG in support of the
review of new INT charts; and
b. is preparing a workshop for all Regional INT Chart/ENC Coordinators. The workshop
will take place back-to-back with the 2nd meeting of the NCWG (NCWG-2) at the IHB in
Monaco in April 2016. This will provide an opportunity for Regional INT Chart/ENC
Coordinators to attend NCWG-2 as well. Provisional topics to be considered by the workshop
are listed in Annex A. Regional INT Chart/ENC Coordinators are requested to indicate their
interest in attending the workshop by completing the form provided in Annex A no later than
31 October 2015. Based on the feedback and lessons learned from the workshop, other events
and follow-on arrangements may be considered in the future.
8. In accordance with Action IRCC7/28, the Chairs of RHCs have been invited by the IRCC to
report on the experimental procedure at IRCC-8. Depending on the feedback reported by the RHCs,
the possible revision of Article 19 of the IHO General Regulation and IHO Resolution1/1992
(Monitoring of INT Charts) will then be considered.
On behalf of the Directing Committee
Yours sincerely,
Mustafa IPTES
Director
Annex A: Workshop for Regional INT Chart/ENC Coordinators – Response Form
Copy: - Chairs of Regional Hydrographic Commissions
- Regional INT Chart / ENC Coordinators
IHB File N° S3/0104, S3/4204 Annex A to IHO CL 64/2015
WORKSHOP FOR REGIONAL INT CHART/ENC COORDINATORS
-
NCWG-2, 26-28 April 2016, IHB, Monaco
Workshop, 25 April 2016, 14:00 – 17:30 (to be confirmed)
Response Form
(to be returned to the IHB
[email protected] by 31 October 2015)
Provisional topics
- Identification and review of the IHO documentation (new Edition of S-11 Part A, S-
4, …)
- Identification and review of available tools, catalogues (IHO ENC Catalogue,
RENC Coverage and Overlap Checker, Digital Reference Tool for Cartographers)
- Identification and review of S-11 Part B INToGIS webservices
- Discussion of best practices, and test cases
Note: The boxes will expand as you type your answers
INT Charting Region:
YES or NO?
Do you intend to participate in the workshop (followed by the
NCWG-2 meeting)?
Name:
E-mail:
Comments/Proposal for
additional topics:
Signature:
Date: