S-8B Nautical Cartographer Program Graduation in Vietnam

On the 25th October 2024, a graduation ceremony was conducted with representatives from the Vietnamese Government, Australian Government and IIC Technologies. This delivery of the IIC Academy S-8B Nautical Cartographer Program was paid for by the Australian Government and delivered by the IIC Academy as part of the Australian Government’s intention to build relations with Vietnam. The formal graduation event was attended by senior representatives from both the Vietnamese and Australian Governments. The Vietnamese contingent was led by Rear Admiral Tran Ngoc Quyet, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy, Chief of Staff of the Vietnam Hydrographic Board; Ambassador Trinh Duc Hai, Vice Chairman of the National Border Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and was supported by representatives from numerous Vietnamese Government bodies. The Australian Government was represented by its Deputy Head of Mission to Vietnam, Mrs. Renee Deschamps, and her staff. IIC was represented by David Crossman, the MD for Australasia.

The ceremony not only recognised the successful completion and graduation by 12 students from the Vietnamese Government but was hailed as a significant success by both sides for Australian and Vietnamese diplomatic and international relations. This delivery was recognised as the first training of its kind to be sponsored by the Australian Government and delivered on Vietnamese soil and forms part of the growing defence and government relationship building activities between the two nations. Further, the DHOM used the opportunity to announce the funding for a second S-8B Program in 2025, while the Vietnamese representatives listed a series of other activities that they desire be considered to assist their national training and development goals.

IIC was generously recognised throughout, with special mention being made on several occasions of the instructors who attended and delivered the training.

In addition to this, separate Technical Discussions were able to be undertaken between the Vietnamese Government and IIC for areas of potential future support, particularly in the S-100 domain.

The Event and Program were a great success and were covered that evening on the Vietnamese news service. (link below and translation follows).

Overall, this was an excellent activity by the IIC Academy, which has opened future opportunities in this nation.

https://baohaiquanvietnam.vn/tin-tuc/be-mac-khoa-dao-tao-ve-thuy-dac-quoc-

(The following is a translation using google translate then corrected manually)

Closing the Training of the S-8B Nautical Cartography Program

On the morning of October 25th, at the Border Surveying Group for nautical charts and marine research, the Department of Naval Staff (City of Hai Phong), the Navy and the Australian Hydrographic Service organised the closing and graduation of the IBSC Recognised S-8B Nautical Cartography Program.

View of the ceremony

Attending the closing ceremony for the Vietnamese delegation were Rear Admiral Tran Ngoc Quyet, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy, Chief of Staff of the Vietnam Hydrographic Board and Ambassador Trinh Duc Hai, Vice Chairman of the National Border Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Rear Admiral Tran Ngoc Quyet gave a speech

On the Australian delegation’s side, there were: Ms. Renee Deschamps, Deputy Head of Mission to Vietnam; LtCdr David Ngothanh, RAN, Deputy Defence Attache; Mr. David Crossman, Managing Director IIC Technologies Australasia and Mr. Tran Quoc Anh, Program Manager, Australian Embassy.

Mrs. Renee Deschamps spoke

At the closing ceremony, the two sides reviewed the cooperative activities of the two countries, including the recent activities of both nations’ armies and navies, which emphasised the activities of the Vietnamese Navy when participating in the Kakadu Exercise in Australia for the first time. Both sides expressed their desire to continue strengthening friendly cooperative activities, including professional training cooperation programs, including information sharing on hydrography and cartography.

After six months of serious teaching and learning, the S-8B Nautical Cartography program delivered in Vietnam has now been completed after achieving the entire program, content and schedule. The training course has equipped Vietnamese students with in-depth and practical knowledge to apply in practice and to implement in Vietnam's Hydrographic Service.

On behalf of the leaders of the Vietnam Hydrographic Board, Rear Admiral Tran Ngoc Quyet thanked and highly appreciated the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, and the National Border Commission (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) for organising the training course and connecting the hydrographic industry of the two countries; he thanked with affection the enthusiasm of the lecturers and recognised the efforts, serious learning spirit and inquiry of the students on the training course.

At the closing ceremony, the students were granted their certificates.