#Navigation - The United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced that it will cease publication of paper nautical charts in six months' time, according to Sail magazine.
Since the first maps charting the US coastline were published in the 1860s, the NOAA's Office of Coast Survey has been producing accurate and highly detailed charts to help all kinds of mariners find safe passage through American waters, from fishing vessels to merchant ships to cruising yachts.
But with the majority of ocean-goers now relying on GPS and other modern technologies, the use of paper nautical charts was seen as falling by the wayside by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which took over the production of US charts in 1999.
Yet while printed nautical charts may now become the preserve of specialised cartographers like Bobby Nash, who designed a special classic chart for the Volvo Ocean Race finale in Galway last year, the NOAA will still be providing its ocean maps by electronic means via data or high-res PDFs.
Sail magazine has more on the story HERE.
