IHO File N° S3/8151/HSSC
CIRCULAR LETTER 69/2017
11 December 2017
OUTCOME OF THE NINTH MEETING OF THE HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICES
AND STANDARDS COMMITTEE (HSSC)
References:
A. IHO CL 35/2017 dated 12 May - Hydrographic Services and Standards Committee (HSSC) -9th
Meeting, 6-10 November 2017, Ottawa, Canada
B. IHO CL 64/2017 dated 12 May - Call for approval for the continuation of the adoption process
of the HSSC and IRCC recommendations
Dear Hydrographer,
1. As announced in Reference A, the ninth meeting of the Hydrographic Services and Standards
Committee (HSSC) was hosted by the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS). The meeting took place
at the Fairmount Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa, Canada from 6 to 10 November 2017. The Director
General of CHS, Mr Denis Hains, opened the meeting and welcomed participants to Ottawa. The
meeting was chaired by Acting Chair of the HSSC Mr Mike Prince, Australia, and attended by 56
representatives from 22 Member States, the IHO Secretariat and six international organizations
accredited as observers.
2. The minutes of HSSC-9, together with the list of decisions and actions arising from the meeting
and their current status, are now available from the HSSC page of the IHO website (www.iho.int >
Committees & WG > HSSC), at section HSSC-9. The HSSC Work Plan 2018-2019 will also be made
available from that page, in the section ‘Miscellaneous’, as soon as it is consolidated.
IHO Assembly-1 Decisions related to HSSC
3. The most significant item affecting HSSC was the task of adding an annex to IHO Resolution
2/2007 – Principles and Procedures for Making Changes to IHO Technical Standards and
Specifications – providing guidance on the procedure for conducting impact studies.
Decisions from the IHO Council (C-1) affecting HSSC
4. The HSSC decided to consider the amendments to IHO Resolution 2/2007 requested by the
Assembly in two steps, as a consequence of the decisions made at C-1 since it was endorsed that the
procedure for approving proposals made by HSSC and the Inter-Regional Coordination Committee
(IRCC) will remain the same until the 2nd Session of the IHO Assembly (A-2) (Reference B refers).
HSSC was therefore invited to consider its Terms of Reference (TORs) in parallel to the revision of IHO
Resolution 2/2007, and to submit further amendments for endorsement at the 3rd meeting of the Council
for approval at A-2.
5. It was also noted that the Council tasked HSSC to establish a prioritized list of work items that
need Special Project funding: the three requests made at HSSC-9 (development of the S-101 Portrayal
Catalogue and Portrayal Catalogue Builder, creation of S-58 datasets, development of S-127 – Traffic
Management – product specification), were approved for funding.
Mapping our Seas, Oceans and Waterways - more important than ever
S-100 and related activities
6. The S-100WG Chair reported that S-100 Ed 3.0.0 had been published in June 2017 and a
schedule for the publication of future editions of S-100 in order to accommodate maintenance and
extension to the standard was proposed and adopted. It was noted that the draft Edition 1.0.0 of the S-
100 Interoperability Specification, applicable to navigation systems only, had been completed by the S-
100WG and the S-98 number was allocated to this publication.
7. The Committee welcomed the nomination of Mr Al Armstrong as the new S-101 Project
Team Chair, noting that the development of S-101 ENCs is clearly identified as the cornerstone
of the IHO Work Programme 2. The participants also welcomed the progress made in the
development of S-121 – Maritime Limits and Boundaries – which is expected,by the United
Nations Division for Oceans and Law of the Sea (DOALOS), to enable Member States to meet
their obligations to deposit their maritime limits and boundaries (more information on: www.s-
121.com).
8. Noting the upcoming availability of S-100 based products, proposals were made to implement
robust validation checks procedures, and to use the test bed platform under development by the Republic
of Korea, in general, and the validation tool developed by Canada for S-111 – Surface Currents.
9. The Committee noted the good progress made in the development of nautical information S-100
based products, such as S-122 – Marine Protected Areas – and S-123 – Radio Services – and the
forthcoming challenges (effective and harmonized production, quality insurance, distribution, carriage
requirements, etc.) associated with the publication of S-100 based product specifications and
commissioning of S-100 based products. It was recommended that discussions on possible
implementation and production plans should start in the working groups, regional hydrographic
commissions, and other appropriate IHO bodies.
10. The HSSC agreed on the critical need for the Data Quality Working Group (DQWG) to pursue
its activities and new Terms of Reference were adopted, aiming to ensure that data quality aspects are
addressed in an appropriate and harmonized way for all S-100 based Product Specifications. The quality
indicators for bathymetric data in S-57 ENCs and S-101 ENCs remains a critical issue that was
addressed, on one hand through the development of the draft of a new publication S-67 - Mariners'
Guide to Accuracy and Reliability of ENC – and on the other through the presentation of a possible
conditional visualization methodology.
ECDIS matters and Nautical Cartography
11. The ENC Standards Maintenance Working Group (ENCWG) Chair reported on the revisions to
a number of IHO publications completed in 2017 (S-52; S-64; S-57 UOC1, S-58, S-65 and S-662).
Fruitful discussions on high density bathymetric contours in ENCs led to the conclusion that the
ENCWG should identify the current limitations in S-57, while ENC Producers will be invited to include
more contour lines in their ENCs as appropriate. Various concerns raised by INTERTANKO in its report
(un-assessed CATZOC areas, high density contour lines, T&Ps, portrayal issues) provided useful
mariners feedback and were addressed at the meeting as part of the ENCWG report. The Nautical
Cartography Working Group (NCWG) reported that Edition 4.7.0 of S-4 - Regulations for International
(INT) Charts and Chart Specifications of the IHO -had been issued and the study on the “future of paper
chart” was now progressing by a sub-group. The HSSC requested the NCWG to consider recent
investigation reports covering nautical accidents and to provide recommendations for amending the IHO
standards and guidance documents if appropriate.
1
Use of the Object Catalogue. See also IHO CL 61/2017 - Call for approval of a revision of IHO Publication S-
57 appendix B-1 Annex A - use of the object catalogue for ENC
2
See also IHO CL 60 - Call for approval of a revision of IHO Publication S-66 Facts about electronic charts
and carriage requirements
2
12. The Committee noted the informative report of the representative of the International Electro
Technical Commission (IEC). The representative of the IEC presented the typical time line required to
produce a major new revision of an IEC standard, which includes S-100 concepts for ECDIS, as well as
the IEC concept of stability date.
Hydrographic Surveys Project Team (HSPT)
13. The HSPT reported that a number of the limitations in the current version of S-44 – IHO
Standards for Hydrographic Surveys - were identified at its first meeting and a questionnaire had been
produced which was intended to gauge the views of users and stakeholders. The Committee encouraged
the HSPT to pursue its work under the proposed course of actions which includes the development of a
matrix approach for the next Edition of S-44. The submission of Ed. 6 of S-44 for endorsement by HSSC
is targeted in 2019-20.
Relations with other IHO bodies and Stakeholders
14. The Committee welcomed the various presentations given by Chair of the Inter-Regional
Coordination Committee, the stakeholders and expert contributors. The HSSC benefited in particular
from the informative report by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), and from the user perspective
provided by INTERTANKO. The awareness report provided by the International Cable Protection
Committee (ICPC) was welcomed and further actions covering cables data release, associated surveys,
and the charting of cables were identified.
15. The Committee endorsed the continuation of its other working groups and approved their work
plans. Member States are invited to consider participating in the working groups in which they are
not yet involved. At the end of the meeting, Captain Luigi Sinapi (Italy) and Mr Michael Prince
(Australia) were elected as Chair and Vice-Chair of the HSSC respectively for the period of 2017 to
2020.
16. The list of HSSC Contacts used for inter-sessional correspondence is maintained by the Secretariat
and posted on the HSSC page of the IHO web site (Home > Committees & WG > HSSC > Members).
Member States are requested to ensure that the relevant contact information is current and to inform
the IHO Secretariat (
[email protected]) of any changes.
Next HSSC Meetings
17. Member States are invited to note, for planning purposes, that the next HSSC meeting (HSSC-
10) will be held in Rostock-Warnemünde, Germany in May 2018. According to the arrangements
outlined at HSSC-9, HSSC-11 is planned to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, in May 2019, and
HSSC-12, in Taunton, UK, in May 2020. Proposals for hosting HSSC-13 in May 2021 and HSSC-14
to be held in 2022 are welcome at any time and preferably not later than at HSSC-10.
On behalf of the Secretary-General
Yours sincerely,
Abri KAMPFER
Director
3
Dear Hydrographer,
Please find attached herewith :
CL 69/2017 : OUTCOME OF THE NINTH MEETING OF THE HYDROGRAPHIC
SERVICES AND STANDARDS COMMITTEE (HSSC).
Kind regards
Lorene Chavagnas
Office Assistant
International Hydrographic Organization
BP 445, 98011 Monaco
Tel : 00377 93 10 81 00