What are official charts?
Charts issued by or on the authority of a Government, authorized Hydrographic Office or other relevant government institutions are official and may be used to fulfil carriage requirements (provided they are kept up to date). All other nautical charts are by definition not official and are often referred to as private charts. These charts are not accepted as the basis for navigation under the SOLAS convention. There are two kinds of official digital charts commonly available; Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC) and Raster Navigational Charts (RNC).
