Australasian Hydrographic Society

Our patron Vice-Admiral Chris Ritchie AO, RANR has been pleased to announce the following awards to individual and group members of the AHS and the contributing community. The Society's highest award, Emeritus Membership, for most significant and prolonged service to AHS and promotion of Hydrography and related sciences goes to Michael Calder (EAR). An award for Service Achievement in the fields of operations and administration has been made to Malcolm Jones (WAR). Career Achievement Awards have been made to Gregory Halls (EAR) for Hydrography Practice, Peter Knight (NZR) for Education and Training in Hydrography and Grey Roughan (WAR) for Hydrography Management.

Two Industry Achievement Awards have been made. Firstly, an Individual Award to Brian O'Neil, (EAR), managing director, HSA Systems Pty Ltd, which came into being in the very early 1990s when, led by O'Neil, it jointly with the RAN Hydrographic Service started work on the Australian contribution to the development of ECDIS. Since then HSA has grown in size and stature to become an internationally recognised, up-to-date developer and application specialist in all aspects of mapping, charting and associated data manipulating techniques. This as indicated in a report on completion of Zoccing of the complete folio of New Zealand charts on behalf of LINZ.

The second Industry Achievement Award was a Group Award given to Fugro Survey Pty Ltd/Chevron Australia Pty Ltd for high-resolution pipe-route surveys conducted by Fugro on behalf of Chevron. These took place in water depths of 200 metres to 1,400 metres by MV Southern Supporter over the Gorgon Scarp and into Barrow Island on the Australian North-West Shelf. ‘Phase One’ was a deepwater multi-beam reconnaissance survey to determine deepwater features, seabed gradient and slope stability to review alternative, pipeline routes. The objective of ‘Phase Two’ was to survey a final pipeline contour of 1,000 metres from the deepwater field to the top of the Gorgon Scarp. ‘Phase Three’ involved final, geophysical, pipe-route surveys employing the Deep Tow 2 System at distances up to 4 kilometres astern of Southern Supporter. To achieve the required depth for this, an extra vessel, MV Pacific Sentinel was employed to acoustically track the towed body and so ensure the desired route was maintained. The whole operation provided high-resolution data for pipeline design and installation planning for the Gorgon Project.

A Maritime Safety Achievement Group Award was made to the LADS Flight of the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority for enhancing safety in navigating the Great Barrier Reef. The award was in connection with a joint operation in which the LADS Flight of the Australian Hydrographic Service and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority provided an alternative route between Cape Melville and Cape Direction. This avoids the shallow Princess Charlotte Bay and confined Claremont Isles and adjacent reefs by opening up the much deeper but previously uncharted waters of what are now known as Fairway Channel and LADS Passage. These track quite closely the Outer Reef. The new passage was achieved through the former organisation undertaking hydrographic surveys and the latter providing extensive navigational marking.

A Group Award for Scientific & Technological Achievement goes to Coastal CRC/Fugro Survey Pty Ltd. Coastal CRC is a combine comprised of the University of Western Australia, Deakin University, Parks Victoria and Fugro Survey Pty Ltd. It is engaged in the development and commercialising of new techniques for coastal habitat mapping, Fugro being the driving force behind technological developments to meet emerging requirements for all aspects, from initial field acquisition through to GIS data deliverables and data dissemination. So far, the technology has been proven in the Victorian Habitat Mapping Project, the largest ever conducted in Australia, consisting of six Marine Parks and fourteen state-wide areas of more than 70,000 hectares, or more than 5% of the Victorian coastline. The importance of this work, which inter alia can assist in facilitating the maintenance of sustainability and biodiversity of and within the benthos of the neritic province, cannot be overemphasised. Just as important, and perhaps more exciting, will be future work if extended into the bathyal and deeper abyssal zones, then on down to the hadal zone of the oceanic province. In the Australasian vicinity the latter will be restricted to the North Solomon and New Hebrides Trenches, and possibly the Sunda Trench. Who knows what might be found with the aid of improved deep-submergence vehicles? Even within the last century these deeper zones were incorrectly considered to be lifeless. Patron Letters of Appreciation have been sent to Ron Furness, (EAR), John Maschke (EAR), Maurice Perwick (NZR) and Bill Russell-Cargill (WAR), whilst a Presidential Letter of Appreciation has been sent to Dan Fitzhenry (EAR).

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