ISLAMABAD: The 8th ROPME Sea Area Hydrographic Commission (RSAHC) meeting is being hosted by Pakistan Navy at Islamabad from 18 to 20 February 2019.
Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Kaleem Shaukat inaugurated the opening session of the meeting as Chief Guest. Representatives of member states and International Hydrographic Organisation, as well as Pakistan’s MoD and MoPDR, attended the inaugural session.
Rear Admiral (r) Mustafa Iptes, Director International Hydrographic Organisation was also present during the ceremony. The meeting is also being attended by leading industrial partners in maritime survey technologies. During the 03 day meeting; matters related to nautical charting, capacity building and regional hydrographic cooperation would be discussed in detail.
Each member would present their national report highlighting the progress made towards increasing the area surveyed and charted by modern and reliable means. This platform provides a unique opportunity to establish a mechanism for supporting coastal states in capacity building.
RSAHC is one of the 15 geographically distributed regional bodies established by the International Hydrographic Organization to coordinate hydrographic activities around the globe and promote the safety of shipping. Presently, Pakistan is Chairman of RSAHC which includes North Arabian Sea, Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Strait of Hormuz, encompassing critical oil trade route.
Other members of this Commission include Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia whereas France, UK and USA are associate members.
Pakistan has been a leading nation in RSAHC region since its establishment in the year 2000. Acumen and quality work of Pakistan Hydrographic Office is acknowledged at the international level and the charts produced by Pakistan are used extensively. Pakistan has acquired a State of Art new survey vessel that will be delivered by Sep 2019. The services of this ship will enhance our hydrographic capabilities which will also be available for regional surveying and capacity building.