New Secretariat to Coordinate Ocean Mapping Is Inaugurated

The Secretariat, co-located in the International Hydrographic Organization offices in Monaco, provides the programme with a dedicated team to support an expanding range of activities and long-term strategic objectives. Mrs Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Monaco Government Counsellor and Minister as well as Mr Vidar Helgesen, Executive Secretary of IOC UNESCO were some of the dignitaries at this special event.

IHO Secretary General Read-Admiral Luigi Sinapi emphasized the timing of the inauguration is significant. “For the first time in history, we have the technology necessary to achieve the goal of a fully known ocean. The creation of the GEBCO Secretariat will give us the means AND the people to achieve this ambition.”

Vital Ocean Data

Depth data underpins all ocean activities, including scientific research, marine spatial planning, tsunami early warning systems, environmental management, and the sustainable use of ocean resources. In a recent policy brief on mapping the ocean depths¹, the OECD also highlighted that seabed mapping serves as a foundational pillar for the future ocean economy.

Yet despite this growing recognition, to this day more than 70% of the ocean remains unmapped to modern standards. A dedicated Secretariat will be a central force in addressing this.

Accelerating Ocean Mapping Around the World

“The ocean is a symbol of eternity, yet it remains a constant source of novelty.” Highlighted Vidar Helgesen, Executive secretary of IOC UNESCO. “New findings continue to emerge, while the ocean itself is always changing and regenerating. The new GEBCO Secretariat represents a new phase in ocean exploration, one marked by greater ambition, stronger institutional collaboration, and deeper connection with the global ocean community. This will enable us to better understand and monitor these ongoing changes.”

One of the main objectives of the GEBCO Secretariat will be to develop global mapping initiatives and support the implementation of the GEBCO vision to “bring knowledge about our planet’s seabed to everyone”.  It will also play a role in evolving the global policy environment to facilitate seabed mapping and the sharing of ocean data, as well as developing funding partnerships to support the financing of mapping initiatives.

A Centenary Legacy

GEBCO’s origins go back to the beginning of the twentieth century, when Prince Albert I of Monaco, a renowned navigator and man of science, observed the lack of ocean data in many regions around the world. At his initiative, the first GEBCO charts were published in 1903, and much of the initial data was the result of his oceanographic campaigns.

Over the following decades, advances in ocean surveying technologies and growing international collaboration enabled GEBCO to evolve into a global programme for seabed mapping, operating under the joint leadership of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO).

With this new coordinating office, Rear-Admiral Sinapi expressed his “ambition that this Secretariat becomes a beacon of international cooperation, scientific excellence and shared ambition; that Monaco continues to be the place where the world's commitment to ocean knowledge finds both its inspiration and its direction.” The IHO Secretary General emphasized that “the future of our oceans is inseparable from the future of humanity”.

The Secretariat will be funded by the Government of Monaco for an initial period of three years. Mr Sam Harper, Assistant Director at the IHO will assume the role of Head of the GEBCO Secretariat.

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¹Exploring and Mapping the Ocean Depths for a More Sustainable Future, OECD (2025).