Oceanographer's duties expand to space, maritime domain awareness

The US Navy now has six Pathfinder-class T-AGS 60 mult-imission ocean survey ships, operated by the Military Sealift Command, with scientists and technicians from the Naval Oceanographic Office conducting the surveys. Hydrographic and bathymetric data that survey ships and UUVs collect are used by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to produce the nautical charts that the Navy's ships and submarines use to ensure safe navigation. The Oceanographer's continuing relationship with the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency was critical to the Navy's efforts to transform ship navigation from manual plotting of position on paper charts to the use of systems conforming to the Electronic Charting and Display Information System-Navy (ECDIS-N) standard. Approximately 75 percent of the planned ECDIS-N installations in commissioned Navy ships and submarines were completed last year. Working offshore is challenging. This is particularly evident in the harsh conditions of the Alaskan Arctic.