Navy officer Dr Najhan appointed as SCUFN vice-chairman

KUALA LUMPUR: Royal Malaysian Navy Eastern Fleet deputy commander First Admiral Dr Najhan Md Said has been appointed the vice-chairman of the Sub-Committee Undersea Features Name (SCUFN) for the 2024-2028 term.

His appointment came at the recently-concluded 36th meeting of SCUFN in Wollongong, Australia.

“Najhan’s appointment was done through a voting process involving 12 permanent members from 12 countries.

“His appointment is the highest honour received by the navy and the country on the international stage, especially in the fields of hydrography and oceanography.

“It clearly shows the distinguished quality of the navy,” the Naval Headquarters Strategic Communication branch said in a statement on Sunday (Nov 12).

Besides Malaysia, the other 11 permanent members are from the United States, Australia, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Mexico and New Zealand.

Najhan received 10 votes and was elected after beating Dr Li Sihai from China and Dr Yasuhiko Ohara from Japan was elected the chairman, the statement read.

SCUFN is a committee under the auspices of the International Hydrographic Organisation and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

It is responsible for reviewing, approving, standardising geographic terms and ocean floor features submitted by member countries to be officially gazetted in the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans database.

This database is the official undersea feature names database for the publication of world marine charts and atlases and any production of marine geological studies must refer to the official name gazetted in the database.