Royal Thai Navy Implements CARIS Enterprise GIS

The Hydrographic Department, Royal Thai Navy (HDRTN) is responsible for surveying the navigable waterways of Thailand and producing official nautical products to serve both the Royal Thai Navy and mariners.

In addition, the hydrographic department has the vision to support all dimensions of operations for the Royal Thai Navy by the end of 2024. This includes provision of cartographic products which are essential for navigation, as well as other defence aspects. To fulfill these objectives and to continue to meet standards outlined by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), as well as to stay at the forefront of technology, HDRTN implemented an enterprise production system in early 2014.

The database technology, which included CARIS Bathy DataBASE and Hydrographic Production Database (HPD), was delivered to HDRTN through cooperation with local mapping technology company, MappointAsia (Thailand) Public Company Limited. CARIS was on site with HDRTN for system implementation and initial training in March and April of this year. This included topics on system administration and loading, managing and maintaining data and products in the database driven environment.

The enterprise Geographic Information System (GIS) will enhance the management and access to spatial data holdings and streamline the exchange of marine spatial data between the hydrographic surveying division and cartographic division of HDRTN. It will also allow the department to efficiently produce new products and maintain the existing product portfolio, which includes 79 charts covering Thai waters and 44 Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) for the main shipping routes. These key aspects will increase HDRTN capabilities for continued safe navigation and support sustainable development of Thailand’s marine economy and environment.