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.
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