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| Notices to Mariners | |
|---|---|
| Title | Notices to Mariners |
| Frequency | Weekly/periodic |
| Country | Various (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Netherlands) |
| Publisher | National hydrographic offices and maritime authorities |
| Firstdate | 18th–19th century origins |
| Language | Multilingual editions |
Notices to Mariners
Notices to Mariners are periodic nautical publications issued by national hydrographic offices and maritime authorities to inform mariners about changes to nautical charts, navigation aids, buoyage systems, seabed surveys, and other matters affecting safe navigation. They incorporate updates from organizations such as the United States Coast Guard, Royal Navy Hydrographic Office, Canadian Hydrographic Service, and the Australian Hydrographic Office, and they coordinate with international bodies like the International Maritime Organization and the International Hydrographic Organization. Mariners, chart agents, shipowners, and port authorities routinely consult them alongside publications such as the Admiralty Sailing Directions and the List of Lights.
The practice of issuing navigational bulletins traces to 18th- and 19th-century charting activities by institutions such as the British Admiralty, the French Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine, and the United States Coast Survey. Early predecessors included the Admiralty Notices to Mariners (UK) and notices produced by the United States Naval Observatory and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Developments in hydrography after the Crimean War, the Franco-Prussian War, and the expansion of steam navigation accelerated standardized notice publication. The creation of the International Hydrographic Organization and the International Maritime Organization in the 20th century furthered multinational coordination, drawing on practices from the Royal Geographical Society, the Hydrographic Office of the Netherlands, and the Norwegian Mapping Authority.
Notices serve to promulgate corrections and temporary information for users of nautical charts and electronic navigational charts maintained by agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Hydrographic Office of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). They cover updates to lighthouses listed in the List of Lights, Radio Aids and Fog Signals, changes to shipping lanes referenced in the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea and Harbour Master's notices, charted obstructions discovered by vessels or by organizations such as the Global Ocean Observing System and Geographical Survey Institute (Japan). Notices address matters relevant to mariners, including maritime safety information promulgated under conventions like the Safety of Life at Sea Convention.
National offices issue notices on schedules ranging from weekly bulletins to ad hoc advisories; examples include the weekly Notice to Mariners published by the United States Coast Guard with coordination from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the weekly bulletin from the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. Distribution channels historically included printed folios distributed through port authorities and nautical publishers such as the Admiralty and NOAA Nautical Publications Division. Modern dissemination leverages platforms maintained by organizations including the European Maritime Safety Agency, the Canadian Hydrographic Service, the French SHOM, and private chart agents like Jeppesen and IHO-certified chart agents. Notices are integrated into chart correction workflows used by operators of vessels registered under flags such as Liberia (maritime registry), Panama (maritime registry), and Marshall Islands (ship registry).
Typical notices contain chart correction instructions referencing specific chart numbers produced by entities like the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and NOAA Office of Coast Survey, textual descriptions, and schematic diagrams. They reference fixed aids to navigation administered by authorities such as the Trinity House, the Commissioners of Irish Lights, and the United States Lighthouse Service (historical). Notices may include information on submarine cables coordinated with the International Cable Protection Committee, temporary and preliminary notices concerning marine constructions tied to entities like the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the Suez Canal Authority, and notices about hydrographic surveys undertaken by naval units from the Royal Australian Navy or research vessels from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Formats vary: printed errata sheets, numbered weekly supplements, and machine-readable notice files compatible with systems used by companies such as Kongsberg Maritime and Transas.
Notices are issued under statutory powers held by national hydrographic and maritime authorities such as the United States Coast Guard under acts of the United States Congress and by the Hydrographic Office (United Kingdom) under royal and ministerial mandates. While notices themselves do not replace promulgated regulations like the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea or port-specific bylaws enforced by entities such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, they provide authoritative navigational information relied upon in legal contexts involving maritime liability and salvage claims adjudicated in courts influenced by principles from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and national admiralty courts.
Effective use of notices reduces risks identified in incidents involving vessels such as the Exxon Valdez and draws on lessons from the Titanic disaster influencing the Safety of Life at Sea Convention. Notices contribute to chart adequacy standards promoted by the International Maritime Organization and support voyages by commercial operators like those of the Maersk Line, cruise lines such as Carnival Corporation, and naval fleets including the United States Navy and the Royal Navy. Search and rescue coordination centers like the United Kingdom Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the United States Coast Guard depend on up-to-date notices to plan responses to incidents involving ferries like those of Stena Line or offshore installations operated by companies such as BP plc and Equinor.
The transition from printed notices to digital services involves coordination with standards bodies including the International Hydrographic Organization and technology providers such as ESRI and Hexagon AB. Electronic Notices to Mariners feed into electronic chart display and information systems certified by International Maritime Organization performance standards and integrate with global services offered by the European Space Agency and commercial satellite operators like Iridium Communications. Initiatives by agencies including NOAA, UKHO, and the Canadian Hydrographic Service focus on machine-readable update streams, automated chart correction tools used by software from Navionics and Garmin, and interoperability frameworks championed by the Open Geospatial Consortium. The ongoing evolution responds to the needs of stakeholders from port operators such as the Port of Singapore Authority to research institutions like the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.