Maritime Safety Information

(23 May 2013)
Sailing Directions (Enroutes and Planning Guides)
The new edition of Pub. 124, Sailing Directions (Enroute) East Coast of South America (13th Edition 2013) has been announced in Notice to Mariners 22/2013 (24 May 2013).

PDU #1 has been issued for Pub. 120, Sailing Directions (Planning Guide) Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia (23 May 2013).

PDU #4 has been issued for Pub. 162, Sailing Directions (Enroute) Philippine Islands (21 May 2013).

PDU #1 has been issued for Pub. 132, Sailing Directions (Enroute) Eastern Mediterranean (14 May 2013).

The new edition of Pub. 147, Sailing Directions (Enroute) Caribbean Sea Volume I (14th Edition 2013) has been announced in Notice to Mariners 20/2013 (10 May 2013).

PDU #1 has been issued for Pub. 160, Sailing Directions (Planning Guide) South Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean (7 May 2013).

The new edition of Pub. 155, Sailing Directions (Enroute) East Coast of Russia (12th Edition 2013) has been announced in Notice to Mariners 19/2013 (3 May 2013).

PDU #5 has been issued for Pub. 180, Sailing Directions (Planning Guide) Arctic Ocean (29 April 2013).

The new edition of Pub. 153, Sailing Directions (Enroute) West Coasts of Mexico and Central America (16th Edition 2013) has been announced in Notice to Mariners 18/2013 (26 April 2013).

PDU #3 has been issued for Pub. 172, Sailing Directions (Enroute) Red Sea and the Persian Gulf (25 April 2013).

The new edition of Pub. 141, Sailing Directions (Enroute) Scotland (13th Edition 2013) has been announced in Notice to Mariners 16/2013 (12 April 2013).

PDU #3 has been issued for Pub. 125, Sailing Directions (Enroute) West Coast of South America (11 April 2013).

PDU #1 has been issued for Pub. 131, Sailing Directions (Enroute) Western Mediterranean (10 April 2013).

(16 November 2012)
World Port Index
The new edition of Pub. 150, World Port Index (22nd Edition 2012), has been announced in Notice to Mariners 47/2012 (16 November 2012).
The World Port Index publication can be downloaded from the Maritime Safety Web site in the following formats:

Adobe PDF document file
Windows executable file (automatically installs Adobe PDF document file)
Microsoft Access database
ESRI Arc shapefile

(6 October 2011)
New enrollment process for NTM and PDU Subscription Service
New subscribers to the E-mail Subscription Service for Notice to Mariners (NTM) and Publication Data Updates (PDU) must now complete the enrollment process by visiting the following webpages:

Existing subscribers have already been transferred to the new mailing list service.

(12 July 2011)
Improvements to Broadcast Warnings page
The Broadcast Warnings page now includes a date/time stamp indicating when the on-line database was last updated. The stamp is located just above the database query form.

The Broadcast Warnings database query form now includes the option to query for messages that have been previously cancelled. This new option allows users to retrieve any and all Broadcast Warnings, not just those that remain "in-force" at the time of the query.

(27 July 2010)
New edition Sailing Directions/Publication Data Updates (PDU)
Sailing Directions are updated by a binary patch file known as a Publication Data Update (PDU). When NGA determines the file size of a PDU is too large for customers to receive it via an e-mail attachment or to download it from the NGA Maritime Safety Web site, a new edition publication is produced.
Several technical issues concerning PDU production and distribution have resulted in more new editions being issued than would have occurred in the past. The compression algorithm used when creating PDF files has caused the PDU file sizes to become too large for customers to receive via the E-mail Subscription Service or to easily download from the Maritime Safety Web site. These issues are:

The resolution of the graphics in Sailing Directions is being reduced from 300 dpi (print quality resolution) to 72 dpi (screen quality resolution).
An upgrade in the PDF-creation software from Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional to Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended.
Creating new Sector Limits graphics from the Maritime Arc-GIS database.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused our customers, but NGA is always striving to keep file sizes as small as possible to make it convenient for our customers to receive the PDU via an e-mail attachment or download it directly from our Web site.

(5 May 2006)
Publication Data Updates (PDU) Summary Page for Sailing Directions Now Available
A Summary of the latest Publication Data Update (PDU) files released for Sailing Directions is now available on the Maritime Safety Information Website. The Summary lists the the most recent Sequential and Cumulative PDU file for every Sailing Directions publication and includes hyperlinks to the files.

The Summary page can be accessed from the Sailing Directions (Enroute) and Sailing Directions (Planning Guide) pages, or by clicking here.

(21 April 2006)
Sight Reduction Tables, Pub 229 and Pub 249
The six Sight Reduction Tables for Marine Navigation Volumes and three Sight Reduction Tables for Air Navigation Volumes are now available as single PDF files, allowing for much easier download of an entire publication.

(10 June 2005 )
NGA's Hardcopy To Digital Transition Strategy
Since the mid-1990's, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has been working to improve digital navigation product support for the US Navy and other US Government users. The US Navy is transitioning to digital navigation, thus reducing the need for NGA to continue production of hardcopy charts worldwide. Therefore, NGA has begun a gradual transition from hardcopy chart production to a digital data maintenance environment. This notice is to advise mariners, chart agents, and other users of this strategy (See More).

(21 April 2004)
Sailing Directions (Enroutes and Planning Guides)
Sailing Directions (Enroutes and Planning Guides) are now available to the general maritime community. All forty-two volumes of the current edition can be accessed by all users via the NGA On-Line Navigation Publications section of this website.

(25 November 2003)
Arctic Maritime Safety Information
The greater use of the Arctic is being realized by all elements of society - commercial, military and scientific, it is appropriate that the Arctic Ocean be as respected as the other temperate oceans and navigated with concern for the presence of maritime hazards. This has resulted in the creation of a database containing information on maritime hazards to both surface ships and submarines (military and commercial) in the international waters of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent northern seas called Arctic Maritime Safety Information (AMSI). Any person who physically collects data, or has an interest in data from the Arctic Ocean, should refer to this database. Click here for additional information on this topic.

(27 March 2003)
Chart/Publication Correction Record Card
An electronic version of the Chart/Publication Correction Record Card, NIMA Form 8660-9, is now available for downloading via the Miscellaneous Navigation Products section of this website.

(23 August 2002)
US Notice to Mariners
The US Notice to Mariners is now available for download in a single PDF file and in a zipped file which includes both the NTM in a single PDF and all graphics in JPG. These new files along with the PDF files of the individual NTM sections may be accessed via the US Notice to Mariners section of this website.

The American Practical Navigator (Bowditch)
The 2002 bicentennial edition of Bowditch is now online for download. Hard copies of this publication with a CD attached may be obtained from the Government Printing Office.

Magnetic Variation Charts
Magnetic Variation Chart of the World, Epoch 2000 and Magnetic Variation Chart of the North and South Poles, Epoch 2000 are available for viewing and downloading via the Miscellaneous Navigation Products section of this website.

Website Survey Form
To better serve the needs of users, the Website Survey Form has been expanded and improved. Your input is critical to the continued success of this website and your feedback is encouraged.

(11 April 2002)
Sailing Directions (Enroutes and Planning Guides)
Sailing Directions (Enroutes and Planning Guides) are now available to Department of Defense (DoD) users. All forty-two volumes of the current edition can be accessed via the NGA On-Line Navigation Publications section of this website.

(17 December 2001)
Radar Navigation and Maneuvering Board Manual
The 2001 editions of the Radar Navigation Manual (Pub 1310) and the Maneuvering Board Manual (Pub 217) have been combined into a single volume and will now be issued under the name Radar Navigation and Maneuvering Board Manual (Pub 1310). The seventh edition is available on CD-ROM from the Government Printing Office or via the NGA On-Line Navigation Publications section of this website. This publication will not be issued in printed form.