September/October

​It feels like it's been a long time since my last blog, so I have plenty of IC-ENC activities to update you all on! ​

Mike Hawes, IC-ENC Course Trainer/Data Manager has just delivered the third and final IC-ENC ENC Validation Training Course of 2015 (bronze level). The course was held in Panama for a period of two weeks, from 14th – 25th September. The course was delivered to 18 delegates from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Panama Canal Authority, Panama Maritime Authority, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, United States, and Venezuela.

On behalf of the whole IC-ENC team, I'd like to say a big thank you to the Panama Canal Authority, in particular Jaime Rodriguez, for offering IC-ENC their training facilities to host the training course.


​Panama Training Course Delegates and IC-ENC Course Trainer, Mike Hawes

Richard Northover, IC-ENC Commercial Manager, attended the World ECDIS Day event, which was held in Hamburg on 16th September. Richard briefed three groups of shipping companies, OEM reps and members of the shipping community. He also gave a joint RENC presentation with Hans Lauritzen, PRIMAR Director, which was well received.

The annual IC-ENC Steering Committee meeting took place on 7th and 8th September in Munich, Germany. We had a record number of 51 attendees, representing 31 out of our 36 member Hydrographic offices. The meeting was very successful, with some good discussions and decisions made, and the minutes from the meeting have now been circulated for review. If you have any comments or questions regarding the minutes, please email me on laura.tyzack@ic-enc.org (cc: therenc@ic-enc.org) by Friday 2nd October.


​Steering Committee 16 Participants

We are excited to announce our latest IC-ENC member developments: Israel, Oman and NOAA (US). The Survey of Israel (SOI) joined as our 36th member in August. We will be working with SOI to develop its in-house production capabilities in order to assist in the production and maintenance of their ENC data. The Oman National Hydrographic Office (ONHO) joined as our 37th member during the Steering Committee meeting. ONHO currently has seven ENCs, and IC-ENC will provide further support in order to assist the development of its in-house ENC production capabilities. In addition, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have entered into the initial phase of becoming our 38th member. This decision was reached following the Steering Committee's endorsement of the proposal to establish a fourth IC-ENC regional office in Washington, DC, USA, as well as the approval of NOAA's intended membership. The membership arrangements and inclusion of the new office into IC-ENC's global operating framework are now subject to further analysis and development by both the NOAA and IC-ENC teams. Further announcements will be made in due course.

Lastly, whilst we're on the subject of IC-ENC regional offices, I thought I'd take this opportunity to update you all on the progress being made at the IC-ENC Latin America regional office in Niteroi, Brazil. The office accommodation has now been established, and the appointed staff members are now working in the office and taking part in regular online meetings with IC-ENC HQ. The two appointed Data Validators have just completed the bronze level training course in Panama, and formal gold level training is planned to be held in Taunton at a later date.​


IC-ENC Latin America Staff


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