Canada and Singapore’s top hydrographers have been appointed as chair and vice-chair of the International Hydrographers Organisation (IHO) council, respectively.
Dr Genevieve Bechard, hydrographer general of Canada and director general for the Canadian Hydrographic Service, formally took up the post on Thursday at the start of the fourth meeting of the IHO council and will serve until 2023.
She will be assisted by Thai Low Ying-Huang, chief hydrographer at the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore, who has been endorsed as vice-chair.
The IHO council coordinates the activities of the organization during the period in between assemblies and is the executive organ for directions given by the assembly.
Bechard, who has been hydrographer general of Canada since February 2018, has been working for the Canadian government for 31 years.
The last 15 of those years has been as an executive with the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, the Geological Survey of Canada and the Meteorological Service of Canada, all science and technology geospatial organisations.
Ying-Huang joined Singapore’s maritime regulator as a hydrographer in 2000 and has been the city state’s chief hydrographer since April 2019.
During his time at the MPA, he has also headed the hydrographic survey, cartographic and aids to navigation departments.
He also spent some time in MPA’s international department and was responsible for enhancing navigational safety, efficiency and protection of the marine environment in the straits of Malacca and Singapore through regional and international cooperation.
The IHO is an inter-governmental organisation that works to ensure the world’s seas, oceans and navigable waters are surveyed and charted.
The past week has seen the IHO hold its assembly, which this year took place between 16 and 18 November by videoconference due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The assembly enables the organisation’s 93 member states to gather, establish priorities, and move forwards on important matters.
Initiatives discussed at this year’s assembly included the establishment of a joint IHO-Singapore innovation and technology laboratory, the creation of a new IHO e-learning centre in South Korea and a project on empowering women in hydrography proposed by Canada.
