As it Is

It is an honour to have this opportunity to write this column for Hydro International as the director of one of the world’s oldest hydrographic national offices. Please remember that in ancient Egypt, the pharaohs already had surveyors and cartographers who surveyed and charted the Nile. They also made charts of the Mediterranean. Fifty years ago, the Egyptian Navy Hydrographic Department (ENHD) was reorganised to be a major department with responsibilities to maintain and improve maritime safety and safe navigation in the Middle East region.

As we are the official representatives of Egypt to the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) we consciously set out to comply with all IHO regulations and resolutions when upgrading our office.



Initially, we improved our personnel training and qualifications. By working in different hydrographic institutes our crews gained multi-cultural experience in this field. American, British and Italian courses were successfully followed by our staff in a range of different subjects; these encouraged them to successfully continue their training and achieve higher qualifications such as DMA & Ph.D.



In the second stage, we upgraded our hydrographic tools: surveying equipment, vessels, computers, software,… etc. Nowadays, we consider ourselves as being the most sophisticated National Hydrographic office in our region as we now operate and provide wide-ranging hydrographic services for the maritime market. Multibeam Echo Sounders, Single Beam Echo Sounders, ROVs, Side Scan Sonars, Sub-bottom Profilers, Magnetometers and high technology positioning systems are used to provide high quality products and services.



The third stage was to prepare ourselves to be able to produce charts independently. The ENHD is now publishing both paper charts and ENCs covering the Egyptian territorial waters.

In the fourth stage we upgraded the capabilities of our meteorologic services, which now are considered the most trusted source of meteorological data in Egypt. Based on a specific concept that required a fully equipped meteorological section with highly qualified personnel, the upgrading plan was successfully achieved.



Other services such as navigational support, navigation safety and security, and technical repair and maintenance are undertaken by the department and provided for others in the Egyptian Navy and maritime sector in Egypt.



The ENHD is an active member in the International Hydrographic Organisation and other Regional Hydrographic Committees, and has implemented comprehensive procedures to adopt all standards, regulations and resolutions that affect hydrography and related matters.



Finally, we can say that, thanks to the upgrading of the ENHD with powerful support from the Egyptian government and the Egyptian Navy, the organisation has became fully capable of providing modern hydrographic services, navigation, meteorological and technical support as defined by the International Hydrographic Organisation and the International Maritime Organisation.