Antarctic Survey Data Provided to IHO
As part of the World Hydrography Day celebrations held at the IHB on 20 June, Captain Stephen Wilkins presented Robert Ward, president of the IHO, with the final Report of Survey and multibeam survey data obtained during recent surveys conducted from his exploration vessel Xplore in the Antarctic Peninsula.
Extensive details about the survey have been reported in the May/June edition of the magazine Hydro International. A short video illustrating the survey is also available.
Stephen Wilkins is the skipper of the Xplore. He is also an active representative of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO). IAATO, in turn, is an active participant in the work of the IHO Hydrographic Commission on Antarctica (HCA), that seeks to coordinate all surveying and charting activity in Antarctica as a way of improving the levels that presently exist.
Captain Wilkins, knowing how much hydrographic data is still required on the Antarctic coast, seized the initiative by arranging for his yacht, which regularly conducts bespoke expeditions to Antarctica to be used for surveying.
The surveys were completed in January 2013, with the assistance of the French Hydrographic Service, SHOM, whose surveyor joined the yacht, and the involvement and support of Sky Ring Marine of Chile that provided surveying equipment, particularly a multibeam echosounder. As a result, Xplore was able to complete a number of surveys that fully comply with the relevant IHO standards.
