International Hydrographic Bureau
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, and international customary law impose the responsibility for the provision of maritime safety information and charting on the coastal State. The requirement for "official" products allows for responsible commercial involvement in the vital service of the provision of information to the mariner. An option of "official" or "approved" charts would create confusion for the mariner.
The responsibility for the "approved" chart and for the consequences of negligence in its preparation and maintenance is inadequate for the protection of the mariner. By the nature of the data on which an "approved" chart is produced makes it an inferior product to an "official" chart based on the most current source data.
There is no safe operating procedure to maintain the "approved" chart and the future of vital information being relayed to a commercial "approved" chart supplier, which would normally be heated by an HO through Coastal Navigational Warnings and Notices to Mariners, is of great concern.
Would the "approved" chart be considered as a legal document for the enforcement of the legal regimes of the various zones and boundaries that would have to be depicted on it?
It would appear that there is no benefit to the mariner by the availability of "approved" charts and unless the control of such a product is absolute, it could present a serious risk to the mariner. Such absolute control would be cumbersome, expensive and would not be justified by the quality of the product
The IHO member States are responsible for the collection and evaluation of the data and there is no support indicated within the IHO for the Italian proposal. The IHO has accepted that commercial enterprises have an important role to play in the provision of chart data products but that this role should be within a sphere that provides maximum protection for the mariner. They should operate in close co-operation with the HOs and the data used should be "official" data that is under the control and authority of the Government HO concerned. Errors in the data that are compiled or added by a commercial enterprise will be the responsibility of that enterprise and this is unrealistic in the light of possible claims.
The IHO is against the Italian proposal and feels that the proposal contains the potential for enormous danger to the mariner.
