Commander James Bond, who has died aged 70, earned his place in maritime history by the discovery and charting of Hydrographers Passage, a new deep-water shipping channel through the Great Barrier Reef.

In 1980 Bond was appointed to command the Royal Australian Navy’s survey ship HMAS Flinders and over the next three years he conducted surveys off the coasts of Queensland and Papua New Guinea, including a passage through the Great Barrier Reef for the export of coal from Australia’s rich fields.

This new route was a 60-mile long passage from Hay Point, Queensland, one of the largest coal ports in the world, to the open waters of the Coral Sea and on to markets in Asia. At its narrowest, Hydrographers Passage was less than a mile wide, with shoals and shallow water through which 5-knot tides raced and when these met the 30-knot trade winds, the surface of the sea “literally boiled”.

The route that Bond discovered and charted cut 250 miles off the previous route, saving time and cost in shipping, and reducing risk to the environment. The route has since had a major impact on the economic viability of Australia’s coal export trade, and saved the industry millions of dollars.

Bond acknowledged the contribution of his predecessors that led to his discovery, and, in the tradition of the great navigators before him, he named some of the previously uncharted features after his crew and family (Sharon Shoal and James Reef were named after one of his daughters and his son).

For this achievement in 1985, Bond accepted from the Duke of Kent, honorary president of Royal Geographical Society, the J P Thomson Foundation Gold Medal, on behalf of the officers and men of HMAS Flinders.

Graham James Bond was born on October 4 1945 in Adelaide, where only his mother ever called him by his first given name. Inevitably he was known as 007, and though normally a modest man he accepted invitations to attend premieres of James Bond movies, and he took quiet enjoyment in announcing himself at check-in desks. He appreciated it when strangers on hearing his name would first laugh, then insist upon photographs and signatures, and would buy him drinks.

Bond joined the RAN in 1966, and in 1968 specialised in hydrography, an elite branch of all navies, involving lengthy and often lonely deployments in small boats (and before the introduction of modern technology) sounding the waters of the world. Off the coasts of Australia the surveys were also conducted in oppressive heat.

Bond commanded the Australian school of hydrography (1973-74), served on exchange duties in the Royal Navy and in the Royal Navy survey ship Beagle, and in 1977 attended the Navy’s highest specialist course for hydrographers before taking command of Flinders.

He was promoted to commander in 1986 but resigned from the RAN two years later. As a reservist he conducted a number of surveys in MV Cape Pillar in the East Solomon Islands, until in 1993 he joined the Australian Maritime Safety Agency as a civilian.

Bond worked in the Navigation Safety, International Relations and Ship Safety section, where he supplied practical and technical advice for the upkeep and operation of aids to navigation, the establishment of ships’ routing systems, and the provision of regular safety instructions to mariners. While setting exacting standards, he was well-liked, could explain the art of navigation to non-specialists and always kept his sense of humour. He retired from AMSA in 2013.

Bond married Linda Baxter, from whom he was later separated, in 1969. She survives him, as does his later partner Robin and the two daughters and a son from his marriage.

Commander James Bond, born October 4 1945, died April 12 2016