Tutorial: Nautical Charts: What is the future of U.S. nautical chart-making?

A banner made up of interlocking puzzle pieces, with each showing a different element of the next generation of navigational standards. The pieces include an electronic navigational chart, a 3D seafloor model, a water level monitoring station, a map with directional arrows representing currents, and a satellite image of a hurricane. — A visualization of the layers of the next generation of navigational standards: Electronic Navigation Charts, high-resolution bathymetry, water levels, surface currents, and marine weather hazards all layered together in one view.

For hundreds of years, mariners have relied on nautical charts to safely navigate and explore the world’s ocean and coasts. These charts provide essential information, such as water depths, the shape of the coastline, navigational aids, and locations of known submerged hazards. In the past, nautical charts were only printed on paper. When something changed within the region displayed on the chart — such as a newly discovered hazard — these paper documents had to be updated and reprinted, which was not always easy or efficient.

Today, nautical charts produced by NOAA are digital and can easily be accessed on computers, tablets, and even smartphones. This makes it easier for any vessel, not just commercial vessels with sophisticated navigation computers, to access and use these charts. In the early 1990s, NOAA turned paper nautical charts into digital versions, known as electronic navigational charts, or ENCs.

ENCs give mariners more information about a region than could ever fit on a paper chart since each feature of an ENC — such as a depth line or hazard point — includes extra information, making each ENC essentially a database. For example, each chart feature can include details on its location, color, shape, height or depth, purpose, and more. Having access to more information is especially important as larger vessels continue to enter our ports and transit through our coastal areas.

Another major benefit of ENCs is that they can be easily updated. This ensures that mariners have access to the latest information as it becomes available. ENCs can also connect with GPS and vessel navigation systems to provide real-time positioning information as well as warnings to help mariners avoid accidents if their vessels are headed toward danger.

As of 2024, NOAA phased out all 1,007 of their paper charts. While knowing how to read a paper nautical chart is extremely useful, fewer people have been using them in recent years. By discontinuing paper charts, NOAA can focus on improving the coverage and content of their ENCs.

As with many areas of our lives, improvements in technology help us better explore and understand the world around us. ENCs are an important tool that helps make navigating our ocean and coastal regions not only easier but much safer for everyone in the water.