Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) engineroom simulator developed by Transas for the Royal New Zealand Navy engineering school .

One of the frustrations of planning voyages to new ports is obtaining charts. To reduce costs and also to avoid having to correct old charts, shipping companies often don’t purchase the needed charts until just before departing to a new port and this limits the navigator’s ability to prepare for the voyage.

In recent years, mariners have turned to Google Earth and unauthorized charting programs on their laptop to obtain the waypoints needed to calculate basic distances and fuel usage figures. but wouldn’t it be simpler and safer to ‘borrow’ actual charts for initial voyage planning? Transas thinks so and recently announced a new ‘Pay As You Sail’ chart solution for Electronic Navigational Charts. The announcement comes after succesful sea trials and verification by Det Norske Veritas (DNV).

Traditionally, the navigator has to select and purchase charts prior to each voyage using what is commonly called pre-licensing method. With Transas PAYS solution, the vessel will have a license and access to install, view, and pre-plan using official (S)ENC’s where the necessary PAYS permissions have been obtained without additional cost.

What’s unique with Transas “Pay As You Sail” solution is that recording and reporting of charts used is done with extraction from Transas Navi-Sailor 4000 ECDIS logbook. Vessels only pay for charts actually used for navigation monitoring. In other words, only charts that have been displayed on the screen together with ships position or generated navigational alarms.  In principle, this is “best scale charts only,” not all charts and scale bands under the keel.

Transas ‘Pay As You Sail’ Schematic

Transas PAYS is a service for accessing chart licenses and corrections online together with the ECDIS.  ’Pay As You Sail’ communicates via Transas Gateway firewall for licensing, corrections and sending chart reports. Transas Gateway works via a secure online internet connection from the vessel’s Navi-Sailor 4000 ECDIS to the Transas Chart Server. It also allows remote support and maintenance on the Transas ECDIS which increases safety onboard.

Anders Rydlinger, Transas Marine Navigation Product Development Director comments:

“With the official Transas Admiralty Data Service (TADS) SENC-service developed in cooperation with the UKHO, Transas ‘Pay As You Sail’ gives the vessel access to the most cost and time efficient (S)ENC service on the market and the best (S)ENC coverage available for navigation and planning. Transas ‘Pay As You Sail’ service complies with UKHO requirements. Besides the vessel’s internet connection, no extra communication equipment or tracking service is needed.”

Navionics Charts On The Ipad

In just two short years, Apple’s iPad has grown to dominate the world of tablet computing with over 48 million units sold. Tomorrow Apple is set to announce the third version of the unit, the iPad HD, so gCaptain wanted to take a minute to look at the best software options for the device. While none of them have IMO approval, you can be sure that these programs, and countless others, are being used on the bridges of countless commercial vessels.

The Best Mobile Charting App

After months of testing various apps for both the iPad and android systems gCaptain’s favorite app for the iPhone is Navionics, and its $35 iPad version brings vector charting goodness to the larger screen of the iPad plus extra features (like gCaptain news feeds!) found more commonly on dedicated chartplotters.

The first advantage of this app is its use of Navionics vector charts. Other solid charting programs do exist. iNavX for example works well but doesn’t come with charts, rather users have the option to download free NOAA raster charts. But Navionics brings us vector charts which allow chart features to be accurately charted regardless of zoom levels (chart scale). And while most vector charts are based on the same NOAA data Navionics seems to do a better than most in getting that data to display correctly on the iPad screen.

In addition to charts, the Navionics app allows you to overlay weather information and it performs tide calculations on the fly. You can also overlay satellite photo images, a nice feature when you are creating a sail plan for an unfamiliar port. Navionics also gives you extra features beyond simple navigation including community layering of user-generated content which aggregates user reports and displays them on the chart. This additional layer can include everything from pilot times and phone numbers, to information on which taxi companies are best in a Port. Navionics reports that it has attracted more than 6,000 registered users who have contributed more than 100,000 new objects.

The newest feature of the Navionics app is “NewStand,” featuring articles about specific ports. Many of these articles are “geo-referenced” meaning that if, for example, gCaptain has written an article about the port you are visiting, that article will be show up in your newstand. So far Navionics has reported over 100 different publishers have signed on to the NewStand feature and, while most of them are focused on boaters, Navionics has recently made a push into including commercial content.

The app handles like a lean ECDIS display, however because it’s internet-capable, it can update data in real time and superimpose the information on the chart. On the dislpay itself, your current GPS location is shown in addition to “crosshairs” which the chart moves around. There are also buttons on the corner of the display with options for search, zoom in and out, GPS location, and settings. The current information, taken from the GPS, is displayed on the bottom along with buttons for basic data on your track and route. Our favorite feature is a very simple interface for calculating distance and bearing to objects and along your given route..

We also like the additional data hidden behind chart features. To activate the information you simply tap on the screen and drag the map until the feature you are interested lays beneath the “crosshairs”, one more tap of the screen and information on the chart feature pops-up.

For those who work on boats with Raymarine chartplotters, you have the ability to sync waypoints and data across your ship systems, however for the rest of us, Navionics does provide the ability to share waypoint information between other Navionics products like their desktop chartplotting software. A nice feature if you want to lay out courses on your computer rather than using the ipad touch screen.

Low Cost – High Quality Charting

EarthNC On The iPad and iPhone

If the cost of the Navionics app is out of your priceline, then try EarthNC’s excellent vector charting app. This app provides great vector charting and many extra features like multi-point routing support for its iPhone Marine Charts application.

What is multi-point routing?

This feature allows navigators to quickly plot a multi-segment course on their iPhone with heading and distance data per segment as well as the ability to dynamically “rubber band” routes. Another key feature of EArthNC is the ability to download the latest charts on the route directly from EarthNC’s cloud-based NOAA chart and weather server – thus assuring the very latest charts are available on the app.

EarthNC’s co-founder, Virgil Zetterlind said: “Our boater community has been asking for multi-point routing for quite some time and I’m happy to say that I think we’ve delivered what they’re looking for. It’s simple, easy and leverages our real-time, cloud-based chart and weather service. We’re going to be paying careful attention to the reviews and feedback to see how we should improve upon it. ”

Don’t like vector charts?

No problem, EarthNC also allows you to buy raster-chart versions for certain regions (more coming soon) and the app will update these charts weekly as corrections are pushed out to the device via EarthNC’s servers. The software also contains free “base maps” which include Google satellite, USGS cartography and CloudMade Road maps.

The one drawback… no ability to plan a route ahead of time and pre-load your ECDIS or ECS, like you can with the Navionics app.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that countless apps exist for the iPad and many more (including Navionics and EarthNC) are also available for Android but, after extensive testing by gCaptain editors, these two remain our favorites for commercial navigation.

New York Harbor. Courtesy NOAA

NOAA’s development of a new navigational chart processing system, designed to meet the changing needs of the maritime community, moves into initial limited production on September 21. The new system, which slims down the current map production process while it beefs up performance, represents a technological leap forward in creating the navigational charts used to speed ships and products safety through the nation’s maritime transportation system.

“NOAA regularly updates over a thousand nautical charts, adding data and making corrections that are critical to a wide use of applications,” explains Capt. John Lowell, director of the Office of Coast Survey. “To produce more navigation products, faster, we developed a single source production system that produces all NOAA chart products from one central database instead of the two production lines used since charting technologies first started changing in the mid-1990s.”

With greater efficiencies and versatility, the system speeds chart updates to users; presents opportunities for private industry development of customized products; and improves data exchange capabilities for multiple maritime uses. For instance, the system will integrate with other information for ocean planning and other coastal uses.

Notably, with the efficiencies gained from the new system, Coast Survey can produce more navigation products, with flexible access to more data, without a corresponding increase in budget or personnel.

In October 2004, the Office of Coast Survey began the production improvement project with Fairfax, Va.-based ManTech International Corporation, and ESRI, a leading provider of GIS technology based in Redlands, Calif. Their goal, coming to fruition now, was to develop an integrated production system for NOAA chart production.

“Technological advancements are spurring a revolution in nautical charts, and navigators need flexibility and increased access to data that mariners from the last century could only dream about,” Lowell said. “The system we developed with ManTech and ESRI provides the platform for a wide range of new applications for commercial mariners, recreational boaters and, indeed, for coastal planners along the nation’s 95,000 miles of coastline.”

While the new system moves into initial production this month, the transition of data covering all U.S. waters will take several years, progressing in sets of charts as geographically located in U.S. Coast Guard Districts. As the data is transitioned to the new system, chart users will see more congruity between paper charts that are now produced on one system and electronic charts produced on another. Under the new system, cartographers will enter the same data into a single system and the changes will be sped along to all associated products.
NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey has been the Nation’s trusted source of navigational charts and data since it was organized in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson. Today, mariners and other users download nearly 300 million free navigational charts annually from  www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov. Users can get fast notice of updates to electronic nautical charts from Coast Survey’s Twitter updates.\

Via NOAA

U.S. Coast Survey cartographers traveled with Union forces to produce battlefield maps during the Civil War (Map of the Battlefield of Chickamauga). Credit: NOAA

In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War next year, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey has released “Charting a More Perfect Union”, an extensive collection of Civil War-era maps, nautical charts, and documents that were prepared by the U.S. Coast Survey during war  years (1861-1865).  A statement issued by NOAA tell us:

Coast Survey’s collection includes 394 Civil War-era maps, including nautical charts used for naval campaigns, and maps of troop movements and battlefields. Rarely seen publications include Notes on the Coast, prepared by Coast Survey to help Union forces plan naval blockades against the Confederacy, and the annual report summaries by Superintendent Bache as he detailed the trials and tribulations of producing the maps and charts needed to meet growing military demands.

In the nation’s early years, the United States lost more ships to accidents than to war. In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson established the Survey of the Coast to produce the nautical charts necessary for maritime safety, defense and the establishment of national boundaries. By 1861, Coast Survey was the government’s leading scientific agency, charting coastlines and determining land elevations for the nation. Today, the Office of Coast Survey still meets its maritime responsibilities as a part of NOAA, surveying America’s coasts and producing the nation’s nautical charts. Keep Reading

In addition to maps and nautical charts, the collection features U.S. Coast Survey supervisor Alexander Dallas Bache’s annual Notes on the Coast of the United States, a series of secret reports used by the Union Army covering the Delaware Bay to the Mississippi Sound that contributed to the success of the Union blockading squadrons.

The entire Civil War collection, with over 400 documents, can be viewed at the Office of Coast Survey website.

Ever wonder how your voyage plan would look to Gerardus Mercator, John Speed or even Captain Cook? Laying out voyage plans has gotten easier in the past decade. From excel spreadsheets to nautical calculators and ECDIS programs, every Second Mate has a tool that assists him in laying out the best route to get his vessel from point A to point B. For a recent project here at gCaptain I laid out a voyage from Singapore to Europe with the exclusive use of Google Earth. This was, of course, not for navigational use but I was able to identify hazards I might not have caught on a paper chart or even an ECDIS. This got me thinking… how different would my voyage look 100 years ago using the charts and tools of the day.

Today’s find comes from the Google Latitude Blog and the David Rumsey Map Collection… historic chart overlays for google maps!

The above image shows small scale chart from 1790 depicting discoveries in the Pacific as well as the routes of three of Captain James Cook’s voyages. Using the overlay tool we are able to lay it over a self created google map and compare the results. While I’m still not sure the practical use for this technology it sure get’s the mind thinking.

Click Here to try it out.

Related Forum Discussion.

.Telegeography.com is selling one of the most interesting world maps I’ve seen to date. The map depicts the over 120 subsea cables including detailed information on the major systems. You can get the free desktop wallpaper or purchase a poster version by clicking HERE.

This map shows the antipodes of each point on the Earth‘s surface – the points where the blue and pink overlap are land antipodes. Notice that most land has an antipode in the ocean. This map uses the Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection.

This map shows the antipodes of each point on the Earth’s surface – the points where the blue and pink overlap are land antipodes. Notice that most land has an antipode in the ocean. This map uses the Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection.

This map shows the antipodes of each point on the Earth’s surface – the points where the blue and pink overlap are land antipodes. Darker shades indicate areas of higher population density. This map uses the Equirectangular projection.

As a kid I wondered where I’d end up if I could drill a hole all the way through the earth. The answer was always China. That was before I knew the concept of Latitude and Longitude.

Thanks to the net, it’s much easier to make the calculation today. It is interesting to note that very little of the earths land mass overlaps.

Any number of Anitpode map links can make the calculation for you.
Wikipedia info here. You can create your own.

For the hooked on trivia buffs, here’s Wendy Carols’ Map Page.
(Ed. note: If you’re of my vintage you may remember Wendy’s (aka Walter) 1968 synthesizer classic Hooked on Bach.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

1) IBISeye.com’s Hurricane Tracker. Click on past and future tracking points for more detail on the storm.

2)CONSUS SE Doppler Radar Image

3) Satellite IR view Gulf of Mexico

4) The National Forecast Chart:

5) NOAA’s GEOS IR Loop showing satellite IR views of Hurricane Dean.

Text Alerts:

Latest Hurricane Photos from Flickr:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Marine Weather Blogs:

• Robin Storm’s Severe Weather Blog

Best Tracking Websites:

1. Google Earth Hurricane Tracking Files
   
2. Weather Underground – Hurricane Dean
3. Unisys 2007 Hurricanes
4. National Hurricane Center – Dean
5. U.S. Navy’s NOGAPS Forecast
6. NHC’s Satellite Image Links Page

Track it yourself with NOAA’s Tracking Chart (PDF download):

All of these links can be found on

gCaptain’s Weather Links Page