International Hydrographic Organization

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental body that focuses on hydrography. Its main goal is to make sure the world’s seas, oceans, and navigable waters are properly surveyed and mapped. It achieves this by creating international standards and running capacity-building programs and offices. The IHO has observer status at the United Nations and is recognized as the leading authority on hydrographic surveying and nautical charting; its standards are typically used in international conventions and agreements.

In the 1800s, many maritime nations set up their own hydrographic offices to improve navigation for naval and merchant ships through charts, publications, and services. However, procedures and charts varied widely. An 1889 conference in Washington, D.C., proposed a permanent international commission, and similar ideas came up at navigation congresses in Saint Petersburg in 1908 and 1912. In 1919, the hydrographers of Great Britain and France worked together to organize an international conference in London. On July 24, 1919, the first conference opened with hydrographers from 24 nations. Its aim was to have all maritime nations adopt similar methods for making charts and hydrographic publications, to share information quickly, and to allow experts to consult on hydrographic topics—a purpose that remains central to the IHO today.

This conference led to a permanent organization, and the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB) began work in 1921 with 18 member nations. Monaco was chosen as its headquarters because Prince Albert I offered suitable facilities. The IHB’s first president was Vice Admiral Sir John Parry of the United Kingdom. In 1970, under Guy Chatel of France, the organization adopted its current name, the International Hydrographic Organization, as part of a new convention. The term "International Hydrographic Bureau" continued to refer to the secretariat until November 8, 2016, when a major revision to the convention took effect. After that, the secretariat was renamed the "IHO Secretariat," led by an elected Secretary-General and two Directors, with a small permanent staff of 18 in 2020, based in Monaco.

Before 2016, the IHO was run by a secretariat headed by a Directing Committee of a President and two Directors. After the convention revisions took effect on November 8, 2016, the secretariat is now headed by a Secretary-General and two Directors, with Australia’s Robert Ward serving as the first Secretary-General. All three senior secretariat members are elected by member states at the regular IHO Assembly. The secretariat includes technical specialists, administrators, and support staff. Most of the IHO’s technical expertise comes from personnel from member states, often joined by industry experts, who contribute through committees and working groups. A Council made up of a subset of member states meets annually to oversee the IHO’s work.

The IHO has published updated editions of the Standards of Hydrographic Surveys since 1968, with the most recent in 2008, each incorporating new technology and shipping needs, especially the rise of electronic navigation in the 1980s. It also standardizes the specifications, style, and symbols for nautical charts. In 1971, member states agreed to use a single chart series, known as INT charts, meaning if one country wants to publish a chart for an area already covered by another member’s chart, the duplicate must use the same data. IHO Publication M-4, issued in 1984, set international standards for nautical charts. With the arrival of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS), the IHO standardized how electronic navigational data is transferred and displayed. This data is now organized in an international database called Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs), with standards for how it is transferred from publishers to users.