In August 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard issued NVIC 01-16, a guidance update for all commercial vessels required to carry Electronic Navigation Charts—ENC—or an Electronic Chart System—ECS and approved hardware. The specifics of Coast Guard guidance vary by vessel size, type, and operating area, but no matter what category a vessel falls under, Nobeltec has the ECS software to meet the requirements.
“I was on the RTCM [Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services] committee working on this for two years,” says Daniel Joram, national sales manager at Nobeltec. He notes that the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stopped printing its lithographic charts in 2014 and stopped producing its printable raster charts at the end of 2024. Vessel operators who were required to have up-to-date charts but relied on paper found themselves in regulatory limbo. “They have to have electronic charts,” says Joram. They can use an ECDIS, like larger ships are already required to do, they can have a paper chart printed from the NOAA ENC viewer, or use an ECS such as Timezero or Rosepoint. We are trying to make things as simple and affordable for our customers.
According to Joram, the basics of the new rules boil down to vessels operating inside or outside the Coast Guard-determined line, which is 12 nautical miles outside the baseline, or COLREGS demarcation line. “That can be plotted on TimeZero Pro,” says Joram. “There are specific hardware requirements for vessels operating outside the line. All vessel operators wanting to comply with the new NVIC will need an ECS that meets the new RTCM 109.8 standard and a Type Approved EPFD (GPS or sat compass). Outside the line, you will need to use a PC tested to IEC 60945, such as computers from Hatteland or Seatronx.
Joram notes that the Hattelund and Seatronics computers are approved for use with ECS seaward of the boundary line and that larger vessels over 500 tons and vessels on an international route are using ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System).
“The rules aren’t official yet,” says Joram. “The NVIC 01-16 guidance came out ahead of the final rules. But anyone using an electronic chart system will need a wheelmark GPS.”
Wheelmark GPS units bear a logo of a ship’s wheel and meet the more stringent standards of the European Union’s Marine Equipment Directive. The U.S. Coast Guard has a mutual recognition agreement with the EU to allow the wheelmark on Coast Guard-approved equipment in the U.S.
“I think the most important thing is to help our customers understand the rules and the latest guidance, and make sure they have the information they need to meet the requirements,” says Joram. “The applicability of this ruling is quite broad, since it applies to ALL commercial vessels. So, uninspected charter fishing boats, and up.”
