UKHO Adds Chinese Coastal Data to Chart Package

17 April 2009, 9:42am

UKHO Adds Chinese Coastal Data to Market-Leading Navigation Chart Package
Admiralty Vector Chart Service Supports Development of Emerging Markets
UKHO has today announced that Chinese ENCs will be released into its market-leading Admiralty Vector Chart Service (AVCS) from 30 April 2009. The new Chinese coverage will, for the first time, make it possible for world shipping to use ENCs when sailing from Hong Kong to the Chinese Mainland and navigate using a single official ENC service for complete passage on important intra-Asia trade routes.

In total 252 new Chinese ENCs are being released covering the thousands of square miles of Chinese coastal waters and all their major ports. The new charts are being made available under a Bilateral Agreement between the UKHO and its respected colleagues, the Chinese MSA, which makes UKHO the only authorised international distributor of the data.

AVCS product manager, Jason Scholey, says “The Admiralty brand offers the most extensive ENC coverage there is available. If the ENCs have been produced we have them in AVCS. What that means for the mariner is that if you’re using Admiralty you don’t have to drop off the ENCs mid voyage and go back to navigating with an inefficient mix of official paper charts and commercially produced vector.”

“Existing AVCS customers that have already purchased AVCS folios in Chinese waters will automatically receive the new Chinese coverage within the price of their subscription” he adds. “Other users can get immediate access to the charts when they need them using our very flexible licensing that enables shipping companies to keep costs low by only paying to use the charts they need as they need them for short periods of time… you pay as you go.”
China’s significance to world trade is considerable and the newly available additional coverage will be of keen interest to world shipping preparing for mandation of ECDIS from 2012 onwards. It is the world's third largest trading power, behind the US and Germany, with a total international trade of $2.56trn: $1.43trn in exports and $1.13trn in imports in 2007. For US and European markets, it sits at the confluence of thriving intra-Asia trade routes for energy, manufacturing and consumer cargoes.

Since its launch in April 2008, UKHO has been rapidly increasing the ENC coverage its AVCS service provides to ensure the trade routes between 1,795 ports worldwide are covered. It has also been continuously improving the service in direct response to customer feedback. Significant new ENCs produced recently by the UKHO include new charts for the Malacca Strait, Red Sea, passage through Suez Canal and along the coast of North Africa. The service now includes more than 9,500 ENCs and comes with the added assurance of the Admiralty weekly updating service both online and on CD for all charts.

UK Hydrographic Office

Geo: International