Military hydrography
By accurately charting out the seabed and sea routes, as well as determining sea depths, the Defence organisation knows where it is safe for its ships to sail. The Royal Netherlands Navy Hydrographic Service has 2 survey vessels in service, HNLMS Luymes and HNLMS Snellius, for collecting accurate measurements.
Charting sea areas
The Hydrographic Service charts sea areas where the ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy are due to carry out military exercises or operations. This is done by one of the RNLN’s hydrographic survey vessels. During surveys, military hydrographers have the option of making use of a small hydrographic launch or a small hydrographic package in combination with another small vessel. These are carried on board the main vessel. The charts of the sea areas can be immediately passed on to the command level, which assists commanders in deploying their units as effectively as possible.
Information-sharing
The Hydrographic Service processes the collected information into digital and hard-copy nautical charts, which it makes available to military and non-military users.