GEBCO is pleased to welcome a new Chair and Vice Chair of the GEBCO Guiding Committee and also announces changes to the leadership of some of its Sub-Committees
Congratulations to the newly-appointed Directors of the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB)
After elections at the recent International Hydrographic Conference, the GEBCO community is pleased to send its congratulations to the three newly-appointed Directors of the IHB.
- President : Captain Robert Ward (Australia)
- Director 1 : Rear Admiral Mustafa Iptes (Turkey)
- Director 2 : Ing. Gen. Gilles Bessero (France)
About the IHO and the IHB
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental consultative and technical body. It aims to support safe navigation and protection of the marine environment. It is one of GEBCO’s ‘parent’ bodies, along with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.
Based in Monaco, the IHB comprises the three Directors that make up the IHO Directing Committee and a small international staff of technical experts in hydrography and nautical cartography. The IHB is the secretariat of the IHO, coordinating and promoting the IHO's programmes and providing advice and assistance to Member States and others.
The International Hydrographic Conference is held every five years. It reviews the progress achieved by the organisation through its committees, sub committees and working groups and adopts the programmes to be pursued over the next 5-year period. During the conference, a Directing Committee of three senior hydrographers is elected to administer the work of the organisation during the next five years.
The newly-appointed Directors will take up their posts in September 2012.
