Paper Charts

Nautical charts provide hydrographical, nautical and topographical information to the Mariner.

The amount of information provided on a nautical chart depends on its scale. The larger the scale, the more information is provided. A large scale chart at a scale of 1:30.000 provides very detailed information about a specific area. Inversely, small scale nautical charts, such as those at 1:2.000.000, provide little detailed information and are most appropriate for general route planning.

Chart corrections are often made to the largest scale charts. This is one of many reasons for using large scale charts wherever appropriate.

 

Find paper charts

Index of Danish and Greenlandic Nautical Charts

The Danish waters are covered by 66 nautical charts.

The Greenlandic waters are covered by 105 nautical charts.

On the online web map, you can see which nautical charts cover a given water. You can also find information such as datum, scale, and the date of the last update.

Chart categories

Scale: 1:2.000.000 to 1:350.000.
These charts cover very large areas and are only to be used when navigating across open seas or oceans. These charts contain very limited amounts of nautical and hydrographical information. Close to shore, this information is sometimes omitted completely.

Scale: 1:350.000 to 1:75.000.
These charts contain detailed nautical and hydrographical information, enabling safe navigation through main waterways and straits.

Charts in the scale between 1:75.000 and 1:30.000.
These charts contain detailed nautical and hydrographical information in order to safely approach the harbours shown in the area. In narrow straits or confined areas or in areas where a special scale chart covers the area, a simplification can have been done.

Charts produced in a scale larger than 1:30.000.
These charts covers areas which are difficult to navigate such as narrow straits, harbours or anchorages.

This chart projection allows the great circle to be drawn as a straight line. These charts covers a large area of the ocean and are only meant for planning purposes in areas where navigating a great circle makes sense. The great circle chart does not contain any nautical or hydrographical information.

The charts of Danish and Greenlandic waters are printed using the Print-on-Demand (POD) concept, meaning a chart is only printed once an order has been placed with a distributor. With Print-on-Demand, charts are continuously updated with the latest chart corrections, which are published on an ongoing basis and can be found on the ‘Chart by Chart’ page. This means that a chart will be up to date each time a new one is purchased. Information about the most recently updated version of a chart can be found in the overview on the ‘Chart by Chart’ page. The release of newly updated charts is not announced in advance. Subsequently, charts must be updated manually with new chart corrections.

The first publication of a nautical chart which will either

  • embrace an area not previously charted to the scale shown
  • embrace an area different from any existing chart

A new chart is e.g. issued if a significant change to the draught of ships transiting an area requires it. A new chart can either replace an existing chart or supplement the current portfolio of charts.

If the corrections to a chart are so extensive that it is not possible or advisable to update the chart through chart corrections, a new edition of the chart will be issued. The same applies if new data is added to the chart – for example, new hydrographic surveys. When a new edition is published, the previous edition of the chart is cancelled. New editions are announced on the ‘Paper Chart Releases’ page.

Buy nautical charts in digital format

In addition to paper nautical charts and electronic navigational charts (ENC), the Danish Hydrographic Office also offers nautical charts in digital format. These are available in digital formats such as TIFF, GeoTIFF and PDF. These can be purchased directly from the Danish Hydrographic Office by downloading and completing the application form and submitting it to policyogsalg@gst.dk.

Application form for digital paper nautical charts