Is your nautical chart valid?

In the chart frame on the paper chart, at the bottom left, will you find the information when the month and year your chart was released. In addition, it will state to which edition of Notices to Mariners (Efs) the chart has been updated.

Print On Demand (POD) charts

Norwegian nautical charts are updated continuously. The Norwegian Mapping Authority does not print paper charts, but creates chart files that we update every fortnight, in line with chart corrections that are reported in Notices to Mariners (Efs).

Up-to-date paper nautical charts can be purchased through approved dealers, who plot fresh charts based on orders from customers. The service is called Print on Demand (POD).

A POD chart contains all changes reported in Efs since the last time the chart was published as a new edition.

Validity

If the user updates the chart with corrections reported in Efs, the chart is valid until it is again published as a new edition or new nautical chart. All seafarers should be aware of the risks involved in sailing on not updated nautical charts, and the responsibility this entails.

New edition of nautical charts

If the Norwegian Mapping Authority has received new information about very important changes that have navigational value, a nautical chart will be published in the category "new edition". In addition to these significant changes, the nautical chart will contain corrections that have previously been reported in Notices to Mariners (EFS).

When a nautical chart is published as a new edition, all previous editions become invalid. From this point on, notifications of chart corrections in Notices to Mariners (EFS) will only be linked to the new chart.

New nautical chart

A nautical chart is released in the category "new chart" when it has major changes in design, delimitation or content.

A "new chart" is a first release of a nautical chart that either:

• Covers an area that has not previously been charted at the scale that it owes
• Includes new coverage area for an existing chart
• Includes a modernized version of the existing chart in terms of symbol and general presentation
• Includes the adoption of an international chart (INT chart), or a national chart first published by another nation

A new chart invalidates all previous editions of the chart. From this point on, notification of chart corrections in Notices to Mariners (EFS) will only be linked to the new chart.

QR code

All paper charts have a QR code that makes it possible, using a smartphone or tablet, to access all corrections related to the chart. And you get access to all the information about the nautical chart and its validity.