The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, has commended the Nigerian Navy Hydrographic Office (NNHO) for the production of second locally-produced chart of some parts of Nigerian territorial waters.
The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, said that Olonisakin gave the commendation in a congratulatory message to the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Ibok-Ete Ibas, on Thursday in Abuja.
Olonisakin expressed profound delight that the recent products of the NNHO harbour and operational charts were certified and recognised by international institutions.
He said that the achievement had come at a time when the need to utilise indigenous resources had been underscored by recent global events.
“It could be recalled that the NN recorded a significant operational milestone with the production of the second indigenous navigational chart of some parts of Nigerian waters by the NNHO,’’ he said.
Olonisakin disclosed that the new chart covered parts of Badagry Creek, from Ogunkobo, through Navy Town and Mile 2 to Tin-Can Island on Lagos waters.
He added that with the completion of the chart which started in 2019, the NNHO had also commenced work on its electronic version that would be forwarded to the International Centre for Electronic Navigational Charts for validation and release.
According to him, in the last one year, the NNHO has produced a number of nautical products which are currently used by Nigerian Navy ships and establishments.
“These include harbour chart of Nigerian Navy Ship BEECROFT and Nigerian Naval Dockyard Limited water fronts, port guide of Lagos harbour and operations charts of the entire Eastern Naval Command.
“Others are maneuvering sheets for tactical navigation and a number of training charts, among others.
“The International Hydrographic Community, particularly the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO), has acknowledged the strides made by the NN in chart production.
“Consequently, the UKHO has accepted gradual hand over of the survey data covering Nigerian waters which are held in their archive and also to adopt NNHO’s charts rather than producing new ones.
“This is a confirmation that NNHO’s nautical products meet international (IHO) standards.
“The NNHO wishes to maintain this standard to facilitate safety of navigation within Nigerian waters and seamless takeover of the charting functions of Nigerian waters from UKHO.
“In line with the coordination role of the NN in Hydrography, the NNHO is also currently developing harmonised Standard Operating Procedures to guide all hydrographic survey activities conducted in Nigerian waters by private survey companies and sister government agencies.
“This would ensure that data received from any of these survey companies/government agencies are accurate enough to be included in a chart,” he added. (NAN)
