diff --git a/Common/derived_types.f90 b/Common/derived_types.f90
index 5ecf46ab29fad72d44affa8438540606ba539e98..c3a7427eea8de2162c748867d354dbb29efe0d31 100644
--- a/Common/derived_types.f90
+++ b/Common/derived_types.f90
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ module derived_types
   end type ssh_contour
 
   type extremum
-     integer coord_proj(2) ! coordinates in projection space
+     integer:: coord_proj(2) = huge(0) ! coordinates in projection space
      real coord (2) ! longitude and latitude, in rad
      real ssh ! value of ssh, in m
   end type extremum