The International SeaKeepers Society and the International Hydrographic Organization have signed a Letter of Cooperation, formalising a partnership that will draw the yachting community further into the global effort to map the ocean floor.
The agreement was signed at the 2026 Monaco Yacht Show on Friday, 25 September, at the IHO Secretariat in Monaco, with representatives from both organisations and members of the international maritime community on hand to mark the occasion.
Under the cooperation, SeaKeepers and the IHO Secretariat will support the IHO's Crowdsourced Bathymetry Initiative and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Ocean (GEBCO) Programme, promote the value of crowdsourced bathymetry to the global yachting community, and grow the international fleet of vessels contributing depth data. The partnership will also support related initiatives, including The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, which aims to produce a definitive map of the world's ocean floor by 2030. Seabed 2030 is not a party to the Letter of Cooperation, but its goals align closely with the work this agreement supports.
By drawing on SeaKeepers' global network of privately owned yachts and research vessels, the partnership aims to boost the collection of depth data that supports safer navigation, scientific research and wider efforts to understand the seafloor.
"Understanding the ocean begins with knowing its depth. Through this cooperation with SeaKeepers, we are turning the global yachting community into an active partner in expanding our knowledge of the ocean. Every voyage can become a contribution to science, safer navigation, and the shared ambition of mapping the world's seafloor. Together, we are transforming opportunity at sea into knowledge for the benefit of all."
"Our partnership with the International Hydrographic Organization reflects SeaKeepers' commitment to connecting the global yachting community with scientific discovery and to ensuring that the ocean knowledge we gather today helps shape a safer, more informed, and more sustainable future for our oceans."
As of 2026, only 28.7 percent of the ocean has been mapped to modern standards of accuracy. Hundreds of mountains, deep trenches and countless underwater ecosystems may still lie undiscovered. Ocean maps provide essential information on seabed topography, currents and other marine parameters that underpin ocean activities and informed decision-making, and more accurate depth data not only improves navigation safety but also supports efforts to address climate change and pollution, and to develop the Blue Economy.
For New Zealand boaters, the implications are practical as much as scientific. SeaKeepers maintains a South Pacific office that has been steadily expanding its local footprint, recently signing on Auckland Central Marina, Silo Marina and Westhaven Marina as Marina Partners. Better seafloor mapping directly benefits navigation safety in the region's cruising grounds, many of which remain poorly charted compared with Northern Hemisphere waters.
The value of more accurate depth data goes well beyond safe passage. It feeds into climate modelling, pollution tracking and the broader Blue Economy, areas where even small, unglamorous contributions from cruising boats can add up to something useful.
SeaKeepers was founded in Monaco in 1998 and has spent nearly three decades engaging the yachting community in ocean science, now organised chiefly around its DISCOVERY Yacht Program. The IHO, established in 1921, counts more than 100 member states and sets the technical standards hydrographic offices worldwide rely on. The organisation's global reach was on full display at its annual Founders Event in Fort Lauderdale, where more than 240 guests from yachting, science and conservation gathered to celebrate the kind of work this new partnership is designed to expand.
