Abstract
Electronic charts have come more and more into use for marine navigation. If complying with the relevant international standards they are an accepted substitute to the mandatory carriage of paper nautical charts. However, the potential of such official, high-quality electronic chart data goes far beyond the use for navigation. In order to show its potential, the basic concepts and features of official electronic charts as a marine geographic information data base are explained and the relation of Hydrographic Offices responsible for their production, to Maritime Administrations is described. The data standard to be followed for electronic charts opens the use of the data for a wide range of possible applications. If efficiently organised, Maritime Administrations can be provided with a powerful, versatile database establishing a single geographic reference data base for e.g. Vessel Traffic Services, for Search and Rescue as well as for various applications in Coastal Zone Management including coastal protection and marine environmental protection. Ultimately, digital marine geographic information will become part of the evolving global spatial data infrastructure.
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