DHAKA, June 21, 2018 (BSS)- Bangladesh Navy (BN) today organized a seminar
marking the ‘Word Hydrography Day’ with the aim to highlight the importance
of hydrography at the command of Commander Chattogram Naval Area.
This year the theme of the day is: “Bathymetry-the foundation for
sustainable seas, oceans and waterways,” said a press release of ISPR here.
Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) and Chairman of National
Hydrographic Committee Rear Admiral Mohammad Makbul Hossain addressed the
seminar as the chief guest.
Representatives from different ministries and maritime stakeholders and
members of the National Hydrographic Committee along with senior naval
officers were present in the seminar.
The theme of the seminar provides the opportunity to raise awareness that
a better understanding of the depth and the shape of the seabed is key to the
success of all human activities in, on or under the sea – including safety of
navigation, protection of the marine environment, development of the blue
economy and the sustainable use and governance of the marine domain.
BN has developed the capability to produce International Standard Nautical
Charts. The charts are being used for ocean navigation by the mariners
worldwide.
BN has a memorandum of understanding with United Kingdom Hydrographic
Office to print BN charts and market them to the mariners worldwide.
BN has also attained the capability of producing Electronic Navigational
Chart (ENC) and already signed ‘Statement of Intent to Join’ with
International Centre for ENCs (IC-ENC) which is one of the Regional
coordinator of ENC.
Thus, hydrographic services are contributing a lot for making the seaborne
trade and ocean navigation safe.
World Hydrography Day provides the opportunity to enhance the public
awareness about the vital role that Hydrography plays in everyone’s life.
Bangladesh is one of the members of International Hydrographic Organisation
(IHO) and Bangladesh Navy (BN) acts as the focal point of all hydrographic
matters in the sea area of Bangladesh.
Among the Sustainable Development Goals, goal number 14 is “Conserve and
sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable
development”.
Requirement of hydrography is paramount to materialize this goal.
The seas and oceans are now acknowledged as major contributors to the
world economy and over 90 percent of the world’s trade travels through sea.
The greatest challenge for a seafarer is to minimize the maritime accident
due to the limited knowledge about the navigational hazards lying along the
route.
In this context, the basic premise of hydrography is to provide essential
information to the mariners about the safe waterways through nautical charts
and publications.
Knowledge on the shape and the depth of the seabed has a significant
impact on how sea level rise, storm and tsunamis affect the coastline.
Moreover, hydrography plays a vital role in pursuing the activities like oil-
gas exploration, dredging activities, offshore construction, cables and
pipelines laying, telecommunications, weather and climate science,
environmental monitoring, aquaculture, mineral resources, energy,
biomedicine, ocean science and observation.