ENC

Electronic Navigation Chart's (ENC's) are the vector charts produced by national authorities that conform with the international standards governing such data including primarily S57. As of July 1 2002 official ENC's can be used in conjunction with an ECDIS to legally navigate without the requirement to carry Paper Charts.

Many national authorities including the AHO are at various stages of ENC production and distribution.

The following links provide access to a broad range of national authorities that are producing ENC's as well as other organisations that are involved in production and distribution of ENC products.

HSA's ally, SevenC's, have a great ENC Viewer - SeeMyDEnc - that is available as a free Internet download.

The U.S. National Ocean and Atmosphere Organisation (NOAA) has a comprehensive ENC production program and makes their ENC's freely available via Internet download.

Most recently NOAA has started making ENC Update Tiles available via the Internet so you can keep your ENC cell up-to-date for NtM's.

The Australian Hydrographic Office (AHO) has an ENC product - Australian ENC - which offers a range of ENC's. They also offer a sample cell available via Internet download.

Note: These ENCs are protected using the IHO S63 data protection standard. Therefore your navigation system software must be S63 compliant to use these charts.

The East Asia Hydrographic Commission (EAHC) composed of the member states: China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, have produced a series of small scale ENCs of the South China Sea. These ENCs are freely available via Internet download.