Leadership – Office of Coast Survey

February 19, 2026February 19, 2026

Office of Coast Survey: 2025 Year in Review

Since 1807, Coast Survey has endured to keep mariners safe and maritime commerce flowing, under the leadership of now 32 superintendents and directors. 2025 was Coast Survey’s last under Rear Admiral (lower half) Benjamin K. Evans, who was relieved as Director in early 2026 by Rear Admiral (lower half) Christiaan van Westendorp.

Coast Survey is excited for what’s to come under RDML van Westendorp’s leadership–the continued evolution of the National Bathymetric Source program, two new hydrographic ships built from the keel-up to incorporate uncrewed systems, more S-100 rollouts, and more–but wanted to first look back on everything the office accomplished in 2025 to build a strong foundation for a safer, more efficient marine economy.

February 10, 2026

Coast Survey Change of Command: Welcoming Rear Admiral (lower half) van Westendorp, the 32nd Director of Coast Survey

“Since 1807, Coast Survey has been keeping mariners safe and maritime commerce flowing. It’s an honor to be a small part of its history.” – Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., NOAA Administrator and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere

This January, NOAA staff, partners, and friends gathered to witness the change of command and assumption of the 32nd Director of the Office of Coast Survey.

NOAA Corps Rear Admiral (lower half) Chris van Westendorp accepted command of the Office of Coast Survey, relieving Rear Admiral (lower half) Benjamin K. Evans.

March 1, 2023March 1, 2023

Naming Brennan Reef, a previously uncharted pinnacle in Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

Brennan Reef, shown via shaded relief on the National Centers for Environmental Information bathymetric data viewer.

NOAA Corps Rear Adm. Richard T. “Rick” Brennan, recent director of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, was deeply dedicated to NOAA’s mission and was an integral part of building connections across NOAA programs to benefit coastal communities around the United States. One example of Rick’s leadership was the Southern California Seafloor Mapping Initiative, a partnership between Coast Survey, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Among many important accomplishments of this coordinated mapping effort was the survey of a previously uncharted reef in Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Through legislative action led by U.S. Congressman Salud Carbajal of California’s 24th District, this reef has been officially designated as “Brennan Reef.”

October 13, 2021March 25, 2022

Captain Benjamin Evans selected as next Coast Survey Director

We are pleased to announce that Capt. Benjamin Evans has been selected to serve as the next Director of the Office of Coast Survey. In this capacity, Capt. Evans will lead NOAA’s ocean mapping and nautical charting program, continuing the transformation of the agency’s navigation services to meet the needs of twenty first century mariners and apply Coast Survey’s technical expertise to meet a broad range of requirements for authoritative ocean mapping data. The Director of the Office of Coast Survey also represents NOAA and the United States as the “National Hydrographer” on interagency and international engagements.

October 30, 2020

Make your voice heard: Provide input on ocean mapping, exploration, and characterization efforts in the U.S. EEZ

The National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization Council (NOMEC Council), a group of federal agencies established to carry out the National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone, requests your input on developing an Implementation Plan and setting strategic priorities for the effort to map the entire U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) by 2040 and explore and characterize strategic areas.

September 10, 2020

NOAA wants to hear from you on ocean and coastal mapping topics

There are three opportunities in the coming month to provide input to NOAA on its navigation services and the future implementation of national ocean and coastal mapping strategies, development of standard ocean mapping protocols, and precision marine navigation.

August 12, 2020March 24, 2025

NOAA Coast Survey’s new strategy supports charting mandates and broader seafloor mapping

This week, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey released the Mapping U.S. Marine and Great Lakes Waters: Office of Coast Survey Contributions to a National Ocean Mapping Strategy. This report is part of NOAA’s ongoing commitment to meet core surveying and nautical charting mandates while supporting broader needs to fill gaps in seafloor mapping and environmental sciences.

December 4, 2019March 24, 2025

Change of command for NOAA Ship Rainier

Lt. Cmdr. Justin Keesee, NOAA Ship Rainier executive officer and Capt. Michael Hopkins lead the change of command in Valejo, California.

On November 15, 2019, the crew of NOAA Ship Rainier hosted a change of command in Valejo, California. Cmdr. Sam Greenaway accepted command of Rainier, relieving Capt. Ben Evans in a ceremony led by Capt. Michael Hopkins, commanding officer of NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) Marine Operations Center-Pacific.

September 12, 2019October 13, 2023

S-100 sea trials: working toward harmonized navigation products

International team participating in the S-100 sea trial.

By Julia Powell, deputy division chief of the Coast Survey Development Lab

On August 27, an international contingent from the United States (NOAA), the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, and the Canadian Hydrographic Service participated in the S-100 sea trial in Busan, Republic of Korea.

S-100 is the International Hydrographic Organization’s (IHO) Universal Hydrographic Data Model’s framework standard from which a variety of product specifications can be developed for use within navigation systems and marine spatial data infrastructure. For many years, NOAA and the Ministry of Fisheries of the Republic of Korea have had a Joint Project Agreement and one of the projects is to develop and promote and S-100 test bed. This test bed is designed to help further the development of S-100 infrastructure used to develop S-100 related products and further the testing of S-100 interoperability within navigation systems.

July 30, 2019October 13, 2023

NOAA hosts 2019 Nautical Cartography Open House and Chart Adequacy Workshop

Sean Legeer shows a digital cartography display to visiting students.

Last week, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey held its third annual Nautical Cartography Open House welcoming over 250 attendees from the U.S. and abroad. Government agencies, industry and academic partners, and members of the public attended. The open house featured posters, presentations, tours, and exhibits centered around four themes: Bathymetric Databases, Custom Charting, Innovative Cartography, and Precision Navigation. Dr. Shachak Pe’eri, organizer of the event and chief of the Cartographic Support Branch in the Marine Chart Division, welcomed attendees in the morning and John Nyberg, chief of the Marine Chart Division, gave the keynote speech.