The 24rd ordinary annual meeting of the PRIMAR Advisory Committee (PAC) (more about PRIMAR below) was held in Stockholm (Sweden) from 21 to 23 November. Swedish Hydrographic Service hosted the meeting. Croatia was represented by CHI Director Vinka Kolić and Assistant Director for International Cooperation Željko Bradarić.
In a two-day work of the Committee, Croatia participated actively in all points of the extensive agenda. The strategic, technical, financial and administrative issues and work of PRIMAR have been considered and a few decision and action items adopted. In the light of rapid changes and advancements in technology at a strategic level, the need to adjust the existing business and organizational model of the PRIMAR has been considered. Three major projects were discussed and approved, whose implementation will meet the requirements for transition to new generation of electronic navigation charts as well as the demand for availability of hydrographic data to a wider range of users, and not just for navigational purposes.
Croatia made noticeable appearance regarding PRIMAR's 2018 budget proposal, presentation of the impact of the new financial model (FM 6.0) on member revenues and total PRIMAR revenues, and the need to improve the model according to the proposal presented by Croatia. In connection with the above, three activities proposed by Croatia that need to be realized in the forthcoming period are adopted. In addition, in a series of bilateral meetings, representatives of PRIMAR members, PRIMAR management and representative of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) exchanged views and opinions on meeting topics as well as other issues from the daily work of hydrographic offices. In relation to the current topics in CHI, the experiences of hydrographic offices concerning hydrographic survey by the private sector (commercial hydrographic survey) were explored.
On the third day of the stay in Stockholm, in accordance with pre-arranged program, a working meeting with representatives of the Swedish VTS Service was held at the Sodertalje VTS Centre, following their visit to the CHI this summer. Several common themes were discussed, several services were visited and the guidelines for future cooperation were established.
About PRIMAR
PRIMAR is one of the world’s three regional ENC coordinating centres (RENCs), operated in accordance with the WEND (Worldwide ENC Database) principles established by the IHO resolution. Organizationally, PRIMAR represents an intergovernmental multilateral cooperation of its full members (more about PRIMAR-u at www.primar.org). PRIMAR’s principal aim is to ensure a harmonized quality level of official ENCs from different producer nations and making this information available to end users on ships and other onshore and onboard services on a 24/7 basis. Croatia, as a long-standing full member of PRIMAR (since 25 October 2005), besides using PRIMAR’s tools and services to ensure highest quality of its ENCs (currently 136 ENC cells) and making them available to end users through PRIMAR, actively participates in the work of PRIMAR’s bodies and working groups from the first day. In this way, throughout the membership in PRIMAR, HHI contributes to its technological-technical and organizational development. Moreover, Croatia (HHI) hosted the meeting of the PRIMAR Advisory Committee (PAC) twice, last in November last year. Until recently, HHI representatives regularly participated in the meetings of the Joint Technical Experts Working Group (JTEWG).