France-Comoros hydrographic agreement
France’s Naval Hydrographic & Oceanographic Service (SHOM), which recently announced completion of nearly 180 electronic nautical charts for Mediterranean coastal regions, is to provide hydrographic support for Comoros, the archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of Africa.
Under a cooperative agreement signed between the two countries aboard its survey vessel moored in Moroni, Beautemps-Beaupré, SHOM will provide the former French colony with official support for hydrographic, oceanographic and nautical charting services. It will also contribute to capacity building and training of local hydrographic surveyors and cartographers as well as establishment of chart publication facilities.
SHOM maintains similar inter-state hydrographic agreements with Benin, Congo, Djibouti, Monaco, Morocco, Sengal and Togo.
By David Goodfellow
