Opening session of the CPLP 2nd Hydrography Conference

On November 6, the Solemn Opening Session of the CPLP 2nd Hydrography Conference took place.

The session began with the opening and welcoming words of the President of the Cape Verde Maritime and Port Institute, Dr. Seidi Santos. The speeches followed by the Director-General of the IH, Rear Admiral João Paulo Ramalho Marreiros, and the President of the Portuguese Committee for the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Professor-doctor Luis Menezes. The Secretary-General of the International Hydrographic Organization, Dr. Mathias JONAS (by recorded video), the Executive Secretary of CPLP, Dr. Zacharias da Costa, and the Minister of the Communities and the Sea of Cape Verde, Engo Jorge Santos also spoke.

All actors reinforced the importance of Hydrography as a basis for knowledge, preservation and sustainable use of the Ocean, as well as the growing relevance and interest of the Hydrography Conference for the CPLP countries.

In the session also took place the presentation of the book “The Measures of the Earth and the Sea of the CPLP” by the author, commander Miguel Bessa Pacheco, a work that will scientifically quantify the dimensions of the maritime jurisdictional areas of the CPLP.

Compared to the European Union, the following figures stand out:

• The land area of the CPLP is 2.6 times larger than the European Union;
• The maritime area of CPLP is 1.4 times greater than the European Union;
• The land area of CPLP is 7.3% the area of the world;
• The jurisdictional maritime area (without proposals for extended continental platforms) is 5.6% the area of the world.