Ocean Charting Services provides chart and Government Publication corrections via weekly packages containing only those corrections needed. There is no need to wade through the Notices to Mariners searching for critical update information.

Chart corrections are printed on adhesive backed paper and are affixed to the paper chart, using cartographic features for alignment. Publications, such as Light Lists and Coast Pilots are kept compliant by using 3-ring binders, allowing old pages to be swapped with pages that we update weekly.

Publications may also be maintained with our DVDs/USB Flash Drives that are updated weekly. The DVD/USB Flash Drive contains Light Lists, Coast Pilots, Notices to Mariners, many other required publications such as CFRs, NVICs, NGA Pubs, VTS documents and chart catalogs.

See the Products and Services page of our website for more detailed information.

FAQ

U.S. Coast Guard Allows the Use of Digital Publications

In 2015 OCS began to provide digital updates to many government publications. Weekly DVDs or USB flash drives may be sent in lieu of the printed updates formatted as replacement pages.

See the Digital Data page of our website for more detailed information about the use of digital data.

The U.S. Coast Guard states:

“Policy. Pending promulgation of other regulatory guidance, U.S. vessels may maintain the navigation publications listed above in an electronic format that is readily accessible on the vessel by the vessel’s crew.”

NVIC, CG-543 Policy Letter 10-05

Data Sources

Chart corrections come from three different government sources:

Agency	Products
USCG	Local Notices to Mariners
NGA	Weekly Notices to Mariners
NOAA	Updated BSB and S-57 charts and Office of Coast Survey website

Each of these three agencies issues chart corrections with different criteria and purposes. Rarely will all three release the same correction in the same week.

Ocean Charting Services (OCS) uses NOAA data for its primary source information. This NOAA data is used to create “chartlets” which are supplied weekly to the vessels. This NOAA data is also used to update the digital charts used by many electronic navigation systems.

Product/Service Cost

The cost of our chart and publication update services is based on the number of charts a vessel carries. Estimated monthly charges range from $70 per month for a harbor assist tug with a few charts onboard to an estimated $400 per month for a vessel with several hundred charts (e.g. Brownsville, Texas to Bucksport, Maine) and many publications.

Weekly Delivery

The USCG, NOAA and NGA typically release updates on Thursday and Friday of each week. Beginning each Friday, OCS uses this new data to produce individual vessel update packages. West Coast correction packages are shipped the following Tuesday, Great Lakes on Wednesday and East Coast on Thursday. Depending on customer preference, OCS sends weekly updates directly to the vessel, to vessel agents or to company offices for redistribution.