Since 1992, the structure, tasks and responsibilities of this department have changed several times. The Government decided at the outset that the Hydrographic Department (HD) would be a part of Klaipeda State seaport authority, since our country is small. This group was supervising depth for safety of navigation in Klaipeda fairways and approaches, dredging and establishing new leading lines and buoys, as well as spreading navigational information. In the beginning HD had no modern equipment such as GPS, computers etc.
Klaipeda harbour was at the time undergoing a lot of reconstruction, so for the main time HD activity was focused on harbour needs.

In the middle of last year Klaipeda State seaport
authority was divided into two companies: a commercial Klaipeda State seaport authority and the non-commercial Lithuanian Maritime Safety Administration. This division led to revision of the tasks for HD, leaving only the most important: that of safe navigation. Our main task now is supervision of the all-Lithuanian fairways (to Klaipeda seaport and Butinge oil terminal), re-surveying areas of responsibility in the Baltic Sea, applying new international standards and making new charts.

Our department currently provides two services: hydrographic and aids to navigation. The aids to navigation service supervise the work of four Lithuanian lighthouses, consulting harbour authorities for the best placing and characteristics of navigational signs. Some lighthouses are equipped with radio beacons and reference DGPS stations. Our office has a staff of nearly thirty persons.

This year our administration acquired a new hydrographic vessel, a catamaran built at the Uusikaupunki shipyard (Finland). This vessel is equipped with multibeam and mobile single beam echosounders and has a small rubber survey boat. The department is also in the process of purchasing two GPS RTK stations. All lighthouses are equipped with a new monitoring system on the GSM network.

Many activities are underway to build a digital hydrographic office and we think that we are halfway there. In the meantime, technology and equipment are improving and such simultaneous adaptations provide the chance to speed up all processes.

Lithuania is not yet an official member of IHO, although we believe that we are heading in the right direction. In the near future we will be proud to become a member of EU and after this a member of IHO, with all our charts ready and kept updated.