32 OCEANOGRAPHY 



The reason behind the position of the Department of Defense is 

 as follows : 



(a) The bill, as worded, can conceivably result in a duplication of 

 statutory responsibilities in the field of hydrographic surveying and 

 charting in support of the safe navigation of the vessels of the U.S. 

 NaA-y and the U.S. Merchant Marine. It must be noted that the vol- 

 ume and coverage of the cartographic and navigational material pro- 

 duced on a worldwide basis by the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office, 

 together with the numerous commercial sales outlets covering all 

 oceans of the world, are causing a large and increasing number of for- 

 eign merchant vessels to turn to the Hydrographic Office for hydro- 

 graphic and navigational information. A number of maritime na- 

 tions linked to the United States in the NATO and SEATO organiza- 

 tions are in part dependent upon the U.S. Xavy for emergency provi- 

 sion of this material. The Corps of Engineers of the U.S. Anny and 

 the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center of the U.S. Air Force 

 have overseas geodetic and charting responsibilities in support of the 

 missions of the Department of Defense. 



(h) Overlapping responsibilities and functions, unless clearly de- 

 fined and agreed to with proper provision for coordination, are very 

 often unsatisfactory in that they lead to unnecessary duplication of 

 effort, and split responsibility so that the situation may arise where a 

 necessary task may remain unaccomplished because of a misunder- 

 standing as to wliich agency would perform it. One of the most im- 

 portant characteristics of cartographic and textual material prepared 

 for the use of the mariner is that changes in all categories are frequent 

 and continuing, hence very heavy effort must be continually expended 

 to insure that the information displayed is kept current and accurate. 

 Clearly duplicate or divided responsibility can lead to navigational 

 disaster from failure to publish a change essential to the safety of 

 navigation of a ship. 



(c) Extra territorial survey operations of any description, except 

 those carried out in the open ocean beyond territorial limits, invariably 

 require diplomatic negotiations with a friendly foreign nation and 

 the securing of the consent and often the cooperation of a friendly 

 foreign power. Participation by agencies other than those having 

 clearly assigned statutory responsibility, and recognized internation- 

 ally by the corresponding cartographic activitie-s of the other power, 

 can result in confusion and dissatisfaction on the part of the other 

 nation. The confusion resulting from a friendly foreign power having 

 to deal with two U.S. agencies rather than one will result in difficul- 

 ties in negotiating the necessary diplomatic clearances if not refusal 

 of entry. In this connection, it is particularly pertinent to the j)rob- 

 lem to note that surveying and mapping in most foreign countries is 

 under the control and su]:)ervision of their military agencies and that, 

 from long establislied practice and common interest, the}' })refer to 

 deal with their military counterparts in the United States. 



(d) A word must be said about the nonclassified international ex- 

 change of hydrographic material, a ])rocedure which is sponsored and 

 encouraged by the. International Hydrographic Bureau at Monaco 

 of which the I^inted States is a member. This })articular as])ect of 

 international relations is being implemented by the IT.S. Navy Hydro- 

 graphic Office in a manner which is extremely advantageous botli to 

 the United States and to the foreign countries concerned. Thei-e now 



