THIS CIRCULAR LETTER REQUIRES YOUR INPUT
IHB File N° S3/1001
CIRCULAR LETTER 52/2015
15 July 2015
IHO PUBLICATION C-55 -
STATUS OF HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYING AND NAUTICAL CHARTING WORLDWIDE
- REQUEST FOR UPDATED INFORMATION
References: A. IHO Publication C-55 - Status of Hydrographic Surveying and Nautical Charting
Worldwide
B. IHO Resolution 1/1997 as amended - Principles for the Worldwide Electronic
Navigational Chart Database – WEND
Dear Hydrographer,
1. During the 7th meeting of the Inter-Regional Coordination Committee (IRCC) in June, the IHB
reported on the development of the IHO Geographic Information System (IHO/GIS). In particular, the
IHB reported that the “Category of Zone of Confidence” (CATZOC) information available in ENCs
could be used to create a GIS layer that would serve as a very useful proxy for the quality of survey
coverage worldwide, to supplement the current percentage figures which are approximate estimates
and have very limited geographic context.
2. Having a more refined assessment of survey coverage and quality is a very important
requirement in the proper assessment of requirements and the allocation of resources in the IHO
Capacity Building Programme. Accordingly, the IHB requested the IRCC to task the Regional ENC
Co-ordinating Centres (RENCs) to seek the consent of their contributing countries to allow access to
the CATZOC data available in ENC cells in order to create an enhanced database that will support
IHO Publication C-55 - Status of Hydrographic Surveying and Nautical Charting Worldwide
(Reference A).
3. The IRCC was informed that most ENC producers distribute their ENCs via RENCs as
recommended by IHO Resolution 1/1997 (Reference B). As a result, the Committee agreed on the
following actions:
Action 24: RENCs to seek the consent of member Hydrographic Offices and others
that distribute their ENCs through a RENC, to provide CATZOC
information to the IHB on their behalf for inclusion in the IHO
Publication C-55 (deadline: July 2015).
Action 25: RENCs to report the results of their consultations with their members to
provide CATZOC information to the IHB as soon as permission is
received (deadline: IRCC8).
4. ENC producers that distribute their ENCs via a RENC, but have not yet provided their consent
to IC-ENC and/or Primar are invited to do so as soon as possible.
5. Meanwhile, in order to achieve a fully populated ZOC database, the Directing Committee
invites the following Member States that appear not to make all of their ENCs available via the RENC
system to send the relevant CATZOC information extracted from ENCs directly to the IHB:
Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
Tunisia and the United Kingdom.
6. The ENC producer Member States that do not distribute data via a RENC are invited to
provide CATZOC polygons for their ENC coverage as a Shapefile or in a similar GIS compatible
format directly to the IHB (
[email protected]). Information may also be sent by post. The relevant
Member States are invited to provide their first input no later than 31 December 2015. Further
updates, based on the publication of new or updated editions of the relevant ENCs, should be sent to
the IHB on an annual basis.
7. For those areas where Member States do not provide CATZOC polygons, the published GIS
layer will display a blank zone, indicating that no appropriate quality information is available.
On behalf of the Directing Committee
Yours sincerely,
Mustafa IPTES
Director
Copied to: General Manager, IC-ENC
Director, PRIMAR