Electronic Navigational Charts

Hans Buch A/S are able to supply navigation charts and all other products from C-Map. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.

Regulations
A prime feature of ENC data is that it can replace the carriage requirements for paper charts on SOLAS class vessels when implemented in a type approved Electronic Chart Display and Information System - ECDIS and complimented by an updating service. The principal regulation governing the content of a digital chart is S57, which is a data format for electronic charts defined by the International Hydrographic Organisation, the IHO. S57 is an exchange format used within the community of Hydrographic Offices and is used for the mutual exchange of chart data.

System ENC (SENC)
The format in which ENC data is distributed has been an issue that the Hydrographic Community has discussed for some time, the critical issues being protection and the implementation of data in the Navigation System. In order to be displayed on a navigation system S57 data must be compiled into an internal format that can be displayed on Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems - ECDIS. This format is known as the 'System ENC' or SENC. The International Hydrographic Organisation has ratified the concept of distribution of official ENC data in a SENC format. The Norwegian Hydrographic Service worked closely with Det Norske Veritas to define type approval requirements for distribution of S57 data in SENC format and C-MAP was the first company to have their SENC format type approved by DNV. From an end-user's point of view the distribution of official data in a SENC format has the major advantage that there is no compilation of data required on-board when installing the data in the ECDIS system. Not only does this save time but it also means that the navigator on the bridge is never faced with the problem of handling errors that may arise in a compilation process. All compilation takes place in a controlled environment prior to distribution to the vessel. In the case of the SENC format developed by C-MAP, the data is encrypted and highly compressed which is a great cost saving advantage when data is transferred via satellite communications.

The world's most comprehensive ENC service
As you would expect from Admiralty, our ENC service, AVCS, provides the most comprehensive official, SOLAS compliant vector chart service in the world. In total AVCS provides berth to berth coverage of all the major trade lanes between more than 1,740 of the world's busiest and biggest ports. AVCS provides over 1,000 ENCs and 448 ports that are not available in any other ENC service in the market

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