The agency of the U.S. Department
of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is
responsible for issuing warnings of dangerous weather, guiding the use and the
protection of coastal and ocean resources, and the conditions of the oceans and
the atmosphere. NOAA
nautical charts are produced and distributed to Nautical Services in
easy to download electronic format to ensure that only the most up-to-date
mariner information is provided to the operators. In addition to that, the charts
are printed on water-resistant paper, so the charts can withstand the heavy
wear and wet conditions that are usually encountered in nautical environments.
NOAA nautical charts are designed
to meet the carriage requirements defined in the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)
Convention Chapter V Regulation as well as Part 164, Navigation and Navigable
Waters, Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Navigation Safety
Regulations and Title 46 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The Code of
Federal Regulations contains 50 volumes that set out the rules and regulations
pertaining to departments and agencies of the U.S. federal government, with
topics ranging from Energy and Federal Elections to Navigation and Navigable
Waters and Shipping. If you are serving
the maritime community, NOAA charts
are of utmost importance for you to ensure better navigation while you are on
the ship. There are online stores from where you can buy noaa charts compliant with (SOLAS) convention, maritime books, vector and raster
charts, and nautical instruments.