Farewell from Lieutenant Marcelo Olivera

​Sadly, I must inform you that Lieutenant Marcelo Olivera has now left his position as Head of Cartography of SOHMA (Hydrographic Office of Uruguay). I speak on behalf of the whole IC-ENC team when I say that it has always been a pleasure to work with Marcelo. His enthusiastic and friendly emails were always well received, displaying a close working relationship with the whole team, even though a couple of us have never had the opportunity to meet him face-to-face! ​

Marcelo first joined the Naval Academy of his country in 2001, getting his degree in 2004. After two years integrating the crews of Sailing Ships of Uruguay and Mexico (including a trip around the world of 10 months in the latter), he was assigned to the Hydrographic Ship ROU22 "Oyarvide" in 2007. Between 2008 and 2009 he made his specialization in Hydrography at the Postgraduate School of the Venezuelan Navy and in the last five years, he has served as Head of Cartography Branch in SOHMA, Uruguay. Here, he worked closely with IC-ENC in order to improve both the quality and availability of cartographic products of his country.

Today, Marcelo will be rejoining the Hydrographic Ship ROU22 'Oyarvide', which he was previously assigned to, as Head of Surveys and Operations.

Marcelo has kindly provided us with a few words that he would like to share to the IC-ENC community:

"My arrival at the Hydrographic Office of Uruguay, and my assignment as Head of the Cartography Branch in 2010 coincided with the signing of the agreement between SOHMA and IC-ENC and the first steps on the path to integration to the aforementioned RENC. By then, the challenge was great and of course we do not have any previous experience that supports us.

The process took some time, in which the 'Joining Instructions' were an extremely valuable tool for guidance and orientation. Furthermore, at this stage the patience and support that each of the members of the IC-ENC had with us, assisting and advising us in the process of designing an ENC that meets the standards of validation was invaluable. In January 2012, exactly one year after the delivery of our first batch of cells, they were approved, starting their distribution.

My experience over the years working with the IC-ENC is that human warmth and generous disposition of each of its members, makes contact to be very close. It could be defined as a "group of friends at a distance" which often do not know each other in person, but let your work with ENCs to be a pleasant and enjoyable experience.

Now that I am leaving Cartography Branch in order to take on a new challenge in my naval career, SOHMA has reached 27 cells distributed worldwide through the RENC, with at least 15 additional cells in preparation for this 2015. I would like express my deep appreciation to the staff of IC-ENC for all the learning and experience they have shared with me over the years and the staff of the Electronic Cartography Division of SOHMA, by the tireless effort of preparing products which matches the greater level of world requirement.

I wish you all "fair winds" and that collaboration between SOHMA and IC-ENC keeps growing every day more and more.

Hasta pronto!"




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