Available in Portuguese the 6th edition of IHO's S-44 – 'Specifications for Hydrographic Surveys'

The Portuguese language version of the 6th edition of IHO's S-44 'Specifications for Hydrographic Surveys' is now available on the IHO website.

The Portuguese translation of this international reference publication was made in partnership between the Hydrographic Institute (of Portugal) and the Board of Hydrography and Navigation (DHN) – Navy of Brazil.

The Portuguese version of the current edition of the S-44 is a technical support document for the Portuguese-speaking hydrographic community, which can be used by the most varied public and private entities (official hydrographic services, port authorities, hydrography companies, municipalities, construction in the area of ​​coastal and port engineering, responsible for dredging operations, hydrographers in general, etc.) (CPLP).

For navigation safety purposes, the 6th edition of S-44 continues the previous classification of hydrographic surveys by orders, adding a new «Exclusive» order, for areas considered even more critical for navigation, whose requirements are more demanding than those of the special order. In this edition, the «bathymetric coverage» is introduced as a new criterion in the classification of surveys to the detriment of the previous base spacing between rows,

However, the biggest innovation of this edition is the implementation of a matrix of criteria and attributes that aims to enable the classification of hydrographic works carried out for the most diverse purposes according to the characteristics achieved.