Australasian Hydrographic Society

News
West Australia Region
The West Australia Region signalled it is back in the action again after years on the sideline when it held a well attended meeting at the West End Tavern function room in West Perth on the 10th February 2005. Thirty-two people attended of which nineteen were members and thirteen non-members, with apologies from fourteen others. The meeting was organised and chaired by Mal Jones, AHS hon. secretary. After welcoming members and guests Mal updated everyone on recent AHS and IFHS news and developments. The main items on the agenda concerning society business were presentation of the treasurer’s report and election of new officers on to the WAR committee. The outcome of the election was that Bill Russell-Cargill was elected as chairman, Steve Duffield, hon. secretary, Cass Castalanelli, hon. treasurer and Karl Bauer social secretary. Congratulations to all. The highlights of the evening were the two guest speaker presentations and the opportunity to meet in the bar for a session of networking with colleagues.

Ted Graham, chairman of HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd gave the first address, assisted by Bob Trotter in showing a fascinating slide presentation describing the successful efforts being made to win support for their search for the World War II cruiser, HMAS Sydney. She and the German, heavily armed, merchant cruiser Kormoran were engaged in an intense gunnery battle on 19th November 1941 which ended with the sinking of both ships to the north-west of Australia, possibly off the Continental Shelf. There were no survivors from HMAS Sydney. Strangely, although 315 members of the 393-strong ships’ company of the Kormoran survived, there is no known position for Sydney's final resting-place. This has led to much speculation, several theories and even some minor searches; strong possibility now exists of a find through the effort now being put into a major attempt at locating her.

Mark Matthews, development manager for ATLAS Hydrographic, presented the second talk, giving a brief history and overview of ATLAS Hydrographic and outlining the company's future plans for Australia. Their technology and innovations make the soon to be released ATLAS FanSweep 30 Coastal Multi-beam echo sounder possibly the most capable yet produced. Great news for the East Australia and New Zealand Regions is that the Australasian Hydrographic Society is once again a cohesive and active whole in this anniversary year. It is twenty years since the steering committee was formed at the ‘Port Access 85’ Seminar held at the Australian Maritime College, Launceston, Tasmania, out of which the Australasian Branch of the former ‘The Hydrographic Society’ was founded. Mal Jones, whose persistent efforts have brought about the revival of WAR, was also a member of that steering committee.

Australian Hydrographic Service
After eighteen months of negotiation, the Hydrographer of Australia and the UK Hydrographer signed a Bilateral Arrangement with the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office on 21st December 2004. The former Hydrographer of Australia, Captain Bruce Kafer, CSC, RAN signed the document on his penultimate day in office. The new arrangement provides the UKHO with continued access to Australian Hydrographic Service charts and publications for inclusion in the Admiralty series, in addition to a number of other co-operative and collaborative activities at the technical level, including data sharing and other production efficiencies for both parties. As well as paper charts, under the new arrangement the AHO will be able to access the full range of Admiralty digital nautical publications on behalf of the Fleet. These will be available under a new and attractive cost-sharing arrangement. This latest bilateral arrangement continues the long and very successful spirit of co-operation between the two hydrographic services.

Contact
Australasian Hydrographic Society
Att. E.R. Whitmore
4/6 Carrington Street
Wahroonga, New South Wales
2076
Australia
Tel: +61 2 94892091
Fax: +61 2 94892048