Almost every single shackle in the maritime transport chain must have a certificate of being trained or having been tested
according to the requirements; for example, the container crane and its operator, the fastening equipment, the ship in all her details, from gangway to bridge equipment. Added to this is the IMO ISM-code (International Safety Management) for the safe operation of ships and for pollution prevention: this includes both ship-owners’ operations and onboard operations (see e.g. www.ismcode.net for more info). The whole SOLAS-shipping world has to undergo this certification and ISM-code process, which include expiry dates and internal and external auditing inspections.
All these certificates and inspections are intended to serve the goal of safety of ship, crew and environment.
At a recent external audit of the ship I skippered the inspection included whether the ship had in good order her system of keeping her hydrographic publications up to date. It came to my mind again that at least one item is missing in this obligatory process of quality control: the nautical chart itself. Not the least in importance when discussing safety of ship and environment. I note with pleasure press releases describing how commercial chart manufacturers are acquiring certification standards for their working methods and I am fully aware that more and more HOs have acquired, or are in the process of acquiring, a standard for their quality assurance system.
In this context I would I like to draw your attention to the feature in this issue by the French Hydrographer Yves Desnoës on ISO certification of the French Hydrographic Office (SHOM). And I would like to remind you of a feature on ISO certification of the Norwegian Hydrographic Office that we published in our issue of December 2003.

I ask your special attention for this month’s feature on the 90th birthday of our famous columnist Admiral Steve Ritchie. You must be very recent to the hydrographic scene if you have not heard from him, seen him at hydrographic meetings that he attends and enjoys, or read his books. This year we commemorate the landings in Normandy sixty years ago. You might spare a moment to realise that Admiral Ritchie was then already active and responsible in hydrography, as he worked to covert hydrographic surveys in preparation for these landings. See for more details his fascinating book No day too long.
Admiral Ritchie is in charge of our monthly column ‘As it Was’, for which we receive much appreciation, and I can tell you that although he every now and then invites guest writers, he remains fully in charge. He leaves no doubt about this. I may call him Steve, but not refer to him as Admiral (ret.) in this magazine, as he wrote to me one day "as admirals never retire" and yes… Steve is a perfect example of this.

Admiral Ritchie, on behalf of all our readers, may I wish you a happy birthday and a long continuation of your ‘non-retirement’ in good health.

Enjoy reading,
Leeke van der Poel, Editor-in-Chief, Leeke.vanderpoel@gitc.nl