From the National Societies
Article

From the National Societies

Australasian Hydrographic Society

Annual General Meeting
Following the successful East Australia Region (EAR) Seminar and AGM, the AHS held its AGM. During the meeting the important updated Constitution was adopted. Also, Alec Millett was elected as the new president, formally taking over from Paul Hornsby who had held the position for many years and was a driving force behind the development of the IFHS. Paul's contribution as president during a period of significant change was much appreciated and acknowledged by the membership. Also elected was Steve Duffield as secretary and stalwart Ron Furness retained the treasurer's role. Ian Halls was elected as director of communications. Many thanks to Mal Jones and Venessa O'Connell for their contributions to the leadership group.

AHS Education Award
The Australasian Hydrographic Society offers an Annual Education Award of AUD 2,500. The award is open to students studying or researching in maritime disciplines including:

-Hydrography - Nautical Charting - Surveying at Sea
-Coastal Studies - Coastal Zone Management
-Offshore Resource Surveys and Management
-Port Development and Maritime Engineering
-Law of the Sea
-Marine Cartography
-Environmental Studies
-Marine Geology and Geophysics

Closing Date - Thursday 9 December 2010

Application Forms are available from the Australasian Hydrographic Society Web Site.

East Australian Region
The East Australian Region ran a very successful one-day Seminar in Sydney on Monday 13 September 2010. The seminar was fully subscribed with 20 presentations given during the day. Presentations can be viewed on the Hydrographic Society web page.

During the Seminar, awards were given to various industry individuals and companies for their contributions to the ongoing support and development of our industry.

The Seminar was followed by the Region's AGM with the current officers being re-elected.

West Australia Region
The AHS (WAR) has been honoured by the IFHS to host HYDRO11. This international hydrographic conference will be from 7 to 11 November 2011 at the Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle. Due to other major international events occurring at the same time, it is highly recommended that bookings be made as soon as possible.

AHS representation at World Maritime Day 2010
World Maritime Day was celebrated at the heritage listed passenger terminal in Fremantle, Western Australia on Saturday 18 September 2010. The Australasian Hydrographic Society was present at one of the 38 sold out booths which included the likes of shipping agents, tug companies, sailing clubs, navigation equipment suppliers, maritime training institutions, schools, regulators, professional societies and other marine and allied industries. The AHS booth had a constant stream of families, individuals and prospective hydrographic surveyors asking about the profession, the Society, history and science of hydrography. To help attract the younger generation, a number of topical three dimensional models and colourful GeoTiffs were displayed of recent bathymetry from the capital dredging work that was underway immediately outside the venue. This proved to be very popular with the added benefit of allowing those interested to have a hands-on opportunity to interact with the 3D model and ‘drive' the software. Public attendance over the day was estimated at around 8,000 and all booth holders and organisers (including Fremantle Ports and The Company of Master Mariners, Australia) considered it an immense success with excellent exposure to the greater maritime industry.

 Hydrographic Society Russia

Assistance Proceeds
The HSR continues to support the activities of the historical-geographical club named after Boris Vilkitsky. This club operates in St. Petersburg high school no. 43 under the direction of the geography teacher Mrs. Elena Nazarenko. At the end of May an activity of this club took place, namely, the conference ‘It is not possible to bring back old times' and was devoted to the 125th anniversary of 'the Russian Columbus' of the 20th century, Boris Andreevich Vilkitsky.

HSR members N.N.Neronov, S.N.Mishin, B.M.Zolotajkin, V.G.Rybin and I.S.Tihomirova (grand niece Boris Vilkitsky) took part in the conference. Guests of honour at the conference were Boris Vilkitsky's grandson - citizen of Germany, Peter Vilkitski and his wife.

Pupils of the 9th classes made 6 reports devoted not only to Boris Vilkitsky and the hydrographic expedition of the Arctic ocean (1913-1914), but also the different aspects of research in Arctic regions, including the irreplaceable assistants to researchers - the dogs.
Arctic veteran Boris Zolotaikin thanked the boys for their good reports and presented the club with the recently issued book Round-the-world and semiround-the-world research expeditions of the Russian Navy written by HSR member Vitaly Koryakin.

On behalf of the president of Fund of polar research (Moscow), Pjetr Boyarsky, the HSR president Nikolay Neronov handed the Order of the name Boris Vilkitsky award to Mr. Peter Vlkitski.
In his word of thanks, the winner expressed his gratitude for the invitation and the award. He also noted the high-quality of the reports made by the pupils - members of club.
At the end of the conference, members of the club accepted and signed the letter addressed to the governor of the town Arkhangelsk area, I.F. Mihalchuk, asking him to consider the possibility of naming some anonymous objects in city of Arkhangelsk after the famous Arctic regions researcher, rear admiral of the Russian Navy Boris Andreevich Vilkitsky.

 Hydrographic Society Benelux

The Central Dredging Association (CEDA) and Hydrographic Society Benelux (HSB) joined forces during a workshop on 23 September 2010 at the STC Maritime Simulator location in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Theme of the day was ‘Modern Survey Techniques for the Dredging Industry'. Three presentations were given showing the opportunities for hydrographic techniques in the dredging industry.

Dr Bob Hoogendoorn (Deltares) showed the ‘One Sweep Survey' principle for surveys, where various techniques are applied in one ‘go' to collect data on the geophysical structure. Together, this data increases the knowledge on the structure more so than all individual methods thereby reducing uncertainties.

Henk de Graaff, operations manager at Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors showed examples of building a dam using 40t concrete blocks positioned in a structured way. To monitor the process, various techniques were tested. The Echoscope system of CodaOctopus gave the best results and using a bespoke construction, the measuring tool can reach close to the observation targets. He also showed movies of the construction of the North-South tube line in Amsterdam, where the Echoscope system is used for monitoring purposes.

Waves can tell stories and radar waves are able to survey streams, depths, waves, sediment displacements, and other variables. Geert Mosseldijk of SeaDarQ demonstrated the system showing tidal streams and sediments analysing radar information. The dredging industry can use the system to obtain information in busy shipping routes or where no information is available.

Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors offered a much appreciated social event afterwards.

The next meeting will be organised on 8 December 2010 in Antwerp (Belgium), with the theme ‘Harbours and Specific Survey Challenges'.

Hydrography Newsletter

Value staying current with hydrography?

Stay on the map with our expertly curated newsletters.

We provide educational insights, industry updates, and inspiring stories from the world of hydrography to help you learn, grow, and navigate your field with confidence. Don't miss out - subscribe today and ensure you're always informed, educated, and inspired by the latest in hydrographic technology and research.

Choose your newsletter(s)