The contract will be administered by NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey (OCS), responsible for maintaining the nation’s nautical charts. This includes thousands of electronic navigational charts covering 153,000 kilometers of shoreline and 3.6 million square nautical miles of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters to the outer limits of the US Exclusive Economic Zone. Since 1996, NOAA OCS has relied on five-year IDIQ contracts with private-sector firms to fulfill this critical mission. Fugro has been a consistent partner throughout this period, introducing multiple advanced technologies, such as airborne lidar bathymetry and remote and autonomous survey techniques, to enhance survey safety, speed, and sustainability.
Céline Gerson, Fugro’s Group Director for the Americas and President of Fugro USA, stated: “A sustainable blue economy depends on accurate and up-to-date nautical charts. We’re proud to continue our long history of work with NOAA, leveraging cutting-edge technologies to deliver the hydrographic data mariners need to safely operate in US waters.”
The new IDIQ contract, effective January 1, 2025, and expiring December 31, 2029, will be managed by Fugro’s Hydrography Center of Excellence in Houston.
