We have just entered a new year and a new decade. What does the New Year bring? A bimonthly Hydro international with even more in-depth articles and ever faster news; videos and new developments on our website or, in case you prefer us to do the work, a selection of every week's news delivered to your mailbox via our email newsletter.
This year sees the total number of IHO member states having reached eighty, with three (Bulgaria, Mauritania and Cameroon) approved and awaiting full accession. Another three states, Haiti, Montenegro and Sierra Leone, have requested membership and await the necessary approval of two-thirds of the current membership. This year also marks the fiftieth anniversary year for the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). Today instrumental in monitoring the ocean through the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and developing tsunami warning systems in vulnerable regions, the organisation began with the International Indian Ocean Expedition in 1960.

This is also the year dedicated to you by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), it having chosen as theme for World Maritime Day: ‘2010: Year of the Seafarer'. The aim is to pay tribute to the world's 1.5 million seafarers - men and women from all over the globe - for the unique and all too often overlooked contribution you make to all our wellbeing.

Further, this is International Polar Year (IPY), including the Oslo Science Conference to be held in June to demonstrate, strengthen and extend IPY accomplishments in science and outreach. While this international interdisciplinary science conference declares its goal of particularly highlighting the global impact of the changes observed in the Polar Regions, the US Geological Survey has already announced that the Arctic could in future face seasonally ice-free conditions and much warmer temperatures. Scientists have documented evidence that the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas were too warm to support summer sea-ice during the mid-Pliocene warm period 3.3 to 3 million years ago. While current summer sea-surface temperatures are around or below 0°C (32°F), they found these temperatures in the Arctic hovered between 10 and 18°C (50 to 64°F) during the mid-Pliocene, similar to what is projected for the end of this century.
With the start of 2010 also come new Rules for Hull Structures of Offshore Service Vessels. The legislation applies to ships intended for offshore support and supply and towing, well-stimulation, and other specialised offshore services. These ships will be assigned class notation ‘Offshore Service Vessel', complemented by optional further notations such as ‘HNLS' for ships carrying hazardous and noxious liquid substances, ‘AH' for anchor-handling tug/supply ships, ‘WSV' for well-stimulation vessels, and ‘WTIS' for wind turbine installation/construction support ships. The new and comprehensive international regulations are needed to specifically take account of the practical demands on OSVs, and reflect the status of current offshore support vessels. Compared to their predecessors, these ships are larger, more specialised, and technically more sophisticated, made to meet the demands of complex deepwater field developments.

Welcome to the New Year! The Hydro international team wishes you a prosperous one. Enjoy your read.