The Office of Coast Survey’s new Nautical Charting Plan officially released
Outlines Coast Survey’s efforts to meet the needs of users of nautical chart data into the future

Dear Colleagues, 

I’m pleased to announce that the Marine Chart Division (MCD) within NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey has released a new NOAA Nautical Charting Plan. The plan describes Coast Survey’s continuing efforts to meet the needs of mariners and other users of nautical charts now and in the future. This includes rescheming NOAA’s entire Electronic Navigational Chart (NOAA® ENC) product suite into a regular gridded layout, recompilation of ENC depth curves from feet and fathoms into meters, and other improvements to delivery authoritative, fit-for-purpose navigation products to users in a timely fashion. The Nautical Charting Plan also describes the ongoing program to end the production and maintenance of NOAA’s paper nautical charts and other raster chart products and services, which will be completed by January 2026.

This new charting plan is a major component of our implementation of the new Coast Survey Strategic Plan we announced last week. The new charting plan consolidates, and updates information previously found in the 2017 National Charting Plan, the 2019 Sunsetting Traditional NOAA Paper Charts, and the 2019 Transforming the NOAA ENC documents. Some of the more technical aspects of reschemed ENC design are now available in a new NOAA ENC Design Handbook. The focus of this plan, as it was for the documents that it supersedes, is the transition from the production and use of paper nautical charts to the production and use of NOAA ENCs.

Lastly, I would like to welcome Ms. Julia Powell as the new chief of Coast Survey’s Marine Chart Division, relieving Capt. E.J. Van Den Ameele who is retiring after over 30 years of service to NOAA and the nation. Julia comes to MCD after three years as the Chief of the Coast Survey’s Navigation Services Division and brings a wealth of experience with charting issues and stakeholder engagement. I am glad to have a capable and experienced leader to continue MCD’s work and implement this new plan.

V/r

Rear Admiral Benjamin K. Evans, NOAA

Director, NOAA Office of Coast Survey

NOAA Office of Coast Survey is the nation’s nautical chartmaker. Originally formed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807, Coast Survey updates charts, surveys the coastal seafloor, responds to maritime emergencies, and searches for underwater obstructions that pose a danger to navigation.