Service hydrographique et océanographique de la marine

The Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (French: Service hydrographique et océanographique de la Marine or SHOM) is a French public establishment of an administrative nature (French: établissement public à caractère administratif) administered by the Ministry of Defence. It is the successor to the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine, founded in 1720 which became the Naval Hydrographic Service in 1886 and the Naval and Oceanographic Service in 1971. Its present form was set up by decree number 2007-800 on 11 May 2007. Its board is presided over by the Chief of Staff of the French Navy (French: Chef d'État-Major de la Marine) and the body is directed by a director-general.

This public body has several aims, including the provision of :

SHOM is made up of oceanographic and hydrographic groups, as well as a school, and employs 500 naval and civil personnel. Its fleets consists of 5 boats: the Beautemps-Beaupré, the Borda, the Lapérouse, the Laplace and the Pourquoi-Pas ?. SHOM works in cooperation with many other national organisations, including IFREMER (with whom it shares the Pourquoi-Pas ?), Météo-France, the CNRS, the University of Western Brittany and the IGN.

It participates in international hydrographic projects and programmes co-ordinated by the International Hydrographic Organization, of which France is a member.

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