Notice to Mariners
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 The front cover of a Notice to Mariners. |
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| Purpose: | Provide corrections to navigational publications and nautical charts. |
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| Publication Frequency: | Weekly |
| Published by: | Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic Topographic Center (DMAHTC) |
| Available Online: | Yes [1] |
Notice to Mariners is an American navigation publication made available weekly by the Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic Topographic Center (DMAHTC), prepared jointly with the National Ocean Service (NOS) and the U.S. Coast Guard. It advises mariners of important matters affecting navigational safety, including new hydrographic information, changes in channels and aids to navigation, and other important data.
The information in the Notice to Mariners is formatted to simplify the correction of paper charts, Sailing Directions, Light Lists, and other publications produced by DMAHTC, NOS, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
It is the responsibility of users to decide which of their charts and publications require correction. Suitable records of Notice to Mariners should be maintained to facilitate the updating of charts and publications prior to use. Information for the Notice to Mariners is contributed by: the Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic/Topographic Center (Department of Defense) for waters outside the territorial limits of the United States; National Ocean Service (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce), which is charged with surveying and charting the coasts and harbors of the United States and its territories; the U.S. Coast Guard (Department of Transportation) which is responsible for the safety of life at sea and the establishment and operation of aids to navigation; and the Army Corps of Engineers (Department of Defense), which is charged with the improvement of rivers and harbors of the United States. In addition, important contributions are made by foreign hydrographic offices and cooperating observers of all nationalities.
Over 60 countries which produce nautical charts also produce a notice to mariners. About one third of these are weekly, another third are bi-monthly or monthly, and the rest irregularly issued according to need. Much of the data in the U.S. Notice to Mariners is obtained from these foreign notices.
Correct U.S. charts with the U.S. Notice to Mariners. Similarly, correct foreign charts using the foreign notice because chart datums often vary according to region and geographic positions are not the same for different datums.
The Notice consists of a page of Hydrograms listing important items in the notice, a chart correction section organized by ascending chart number, a publications correction section, and a summary of broadcast navigation warnings and miscellaneous information. Mariners are requested to cooperate in the correction of charts and publications by reporting all discrepancies between published information and conditions actually observed and by recommending appropriate improvements.
A convenient reporting form is provided in the back of each Notice to Mariners No. 1 of each year contains important information on a variety of subjects which supplements information not usually found on charts and in navigational publications. This information is published as Special Notice to Mariners Paragraphs. Additional items considered of interest to the mariner are also included in this Notice.
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[edit] Summary of Corrections
A close companion to the Notice to Mariners is the Summary of Corrections. The Summary is published in five volumes. Each volume covers a major portion of the earth including several chart regions and many subregions. Volume 5 also includes special charts and publications corrected by the Notice to Mariners. Since the Summaries contain cumulative corrections, any chart, regardless of its print date, can be corrected with the proper volume of the Summary and all subsequent Notice to Mariners.
[edit] Source
The text of this article originated from sections 419 and 420 of The American Practical Navigator, a document produced by the government of the United States of America.
[edit] See also
- American Practical Navigator
- Buoy
- Coast Pilots
- Light List
- List of Lights
- Local Notice to Mariners
- Sailing Directions
[edit] External links
- Chapter 4: Nautical Publications - from the online edition of Nathaniel Bowditch's American Practical Navigator
- Notice to Mariners Online
