Overview
Feature Highlights Strip
Navigate with integrated raster and vector chart data sourced from official hydrographic offices and enriched with detailed nautical features.
Visualize the bottom structure with high-resolution bathymetry and BathyVision 3D contour mapping for coastal and harbor approach navigation.
Overlay satellite photography with chart data for realistic visual identification of ports, anchorages, and coastal landmarks.
View realistic shoreline altimetry and perspective horizons to identify port entries and channel approaches from offshore.
Customize chart display by toggling between raster imagery, vector layers, bathymetric overlays, and satellite views within TimeZero software.
Compatible with TimeZero Navigator v5 and TimeZero Professional v5, purpose-built for recreational and professional navigation applications.
High-Resolution Bathymetry
Navigate Shallow Approaches with Confidence
High-resolution bathymetric data transforms chart contour lines into intuitive 3D bottom representations, providing essential depth awareness when navigating into Baltic ports, archipelago anchorages, and restricted-depth fairways. The graphic interpretation of contour data creates detailed bottom profiles invaluable for approach planning and anchorage selection in a sea where average depth is only 55 meters and large areas are significantly shallower.
The BathyVision feature displays bottom topography in color and contour line overlays, allowing mariners to dynamically adjust the visualization to suit their navigation needs. This capability is particularly critical in the Baltic, where shallow sand banks and shifting shoals line the southern and eastern coasts, narrow archipelago channels between Swedish and Finnish islands demand precise depth awareness at every turn, and draft-restricted commercial fairways into major ports such as Gothenburg, Stockholm, Helsinki, and Gdansk require continuous depth monitoring during approach.
Mariners threading the Stockholm archipelago, entering the shallow approaches to the Aland Islands, or navigating the restricted channels of the Danish Belts benefit from bottom structure visualization that flat chart views cannot replicate.
Raster and Vector Chart Fusion
Official Charts Enhanced with Intelligent Data Layers
TZ Maps combines two complementary chart formats to deliver maximum navigational confidence. Georeferenced raster data presents true-color digital copies of official hydrographic office paper charts, the same familiar chart view that mariners have relied on for decades. These images provide a reliable visual reference that experienced navigators can interpret immediately.
Vector data operates alongside raster imagery using a database-driven approach that stores information in discrete layers and records every nautical feature independently. This format enables interactive chart queries, object-based search, and depth value interrogation that static raster imagery cannot provide.
The Baltic Sea benefits from strong hydrographic coverage produced by multiple national services, each maintaining distinct chart styles, datum references, and update schedules. TZ Maps integrates this multi-national chart data into a seamless navigational package, eliminating the need to manage separate Swedish, Finnish, German, Polish, and Baltic State chart folios when transiting between national waters during a single passage.
Satellite Photo Overlay
See the Real Landscape Behind the Chart
TZ Maps fuses satellite photography with raster and vector chart data, presenting only the visual information essential for safe navigation. Standard-resolution satellite images are included in every TZ Maps data pack, with high-definition options available for selected areas.
This overlay capability proves especially valuable across the Baltic, where visual identification of narrow archipelago passages, harbor breakwaters, and marina entrances against low-lying forested coastlines aids safe approach navigation. Mariners arriving at unfamiliar anchorages in the Stockholm or Turku archipelagos, identifying approach channels through the Finnish skerry guard, or distinguishing harbor entrances along the flat Polish and German Baltic coast can correlate chart data with actual terrain appearance before the approach begins.
Realistic Shoreline Views
Identify Port Entries and Coastal Features from the Horizon
TZ Maps employs altimetry to render shorelines with realistic elevation perspective, creating 3D views that simulate the visual horizon as seen from the bridge. This perspective rendering aids instant identification of port entrances, channel markers, and specific shoreline landmarks during approach.
In the Baltic, where much of the southern and eastern coastline presents a low, flat profile from offshore, realistic shoreline rendering provides situational awareness that standard chart views cannot offer. The visual distinction between a harbor entrance, a river mouth, and an adjacent beach requires the kind of perspective preview that altimetric rendering delivers. Along the higher Swedish and Finnish archipelago coasts, matching rendered profiles against actual island silhouettes supports confident channel identification through complex island groups.
Detailed Land Information
Understand the Coastline and Nearby Infrastructure
Beyond waterway navigation data, TZ Maps integrates detailed land information that enhances understanding of coastlines and nearby infrastructure. Road networks, settlement locations, and coastal facility positions are rendered alongside maritime chart data.
This integrated land detail supports voyage planning across the Baltic, where mariners coordinate shoreside logistics across multiple countries with varying facility standards. Understanding which island harbors offer fuel, customs clearance, provisioning, and repair services is essential when planning archipelago passages where the next full-service port may be a considerable distance from the current anchorage.
Software Compatibility
Purpose-Built for TimeZero Navigation Software
The TZ Map: Baltic Sea is designed for use with TimeZero navigation software platforms. Compatible applications include:
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TimeZero Navigator v5: Full-featured navigation software for recreational and professional mariners
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TimeZero Professional v5: Advanced navigation platform with commercial vessel capabilities
TZ Maps are delivered as data packs that load directly into compatible TimeZero software installations. This chart pack is not compatible with standalone chartplotters from other manufacturers. Mariners using Garmin, Raymarine, Simrad, or other hardware-based chartplotters should consult the ANS digital charts catalog for compatible chart products.
Need assistance determining the right chart format for your bridge electronics? Contact the ANS navigation team for personalized guidance on matching chart products to your vessel equipment.
Complete Setup
Complete Your Northern European Navigation Setup
TimeZero Navigation Software
TZ Maps require compatible TimeZero software. Choose TimeZero Navigator v5 for recreational cruising or TimeZero Professional v5 for advanced commercial navigation features.
Additional TZ Map Regions
Extend coverage with TZ Map: Skagerrak & Kattegat for the Danish straits connecting the Baltic to the North Sea, TZ Map: Norway for the Norwegian coast, or TZ Map: British Islands for transits to UK waters. Multiple TZ Map packs load seamlessly within the same TimeZero software installation.
Baltic Cruising Guides
Supplement digital chart data with detailed anchorage descriptions, approach instructions, and local facility information from dedicated Baltic and Scandinavian cruising guides available through ANS.
ADMIRALTY Paper Charts: Baltic Coverage
Commercial vessels subject to SOLAS chart carriage requirements should maintain official paper chart backup for primary navigation areas. ADMIRALTY charts covering the Baltic Sea are available through the ANS Chart Selector .
Need Help Choosing the Right Charting Solution?
The ANS navigation team provides personalized guidance on chart selection, software compatibility, and compliance requirements for vessels of all types. Whether outfitting a yacht for Baltic archipelago cruising or equipping a commercial vessel for Northern European trading routes, ANS specialists match chart products to your vessel, cruising plans, and bridge electronics.
Phone: +1 (954) 522-3321
WhatsApp: +1 (954) 292-4212
Email: sales@amnautical.com
Hours: Mon-Fri 8 am-5 pm | Sat 9 am-5 pm EST
FAQs
Q1. What areas does the TZ Map: Baltic Sea cover?
This chart pack provides navigational coverage for the full Baltic basin, including the Swedish eastern coast and Stockholm archipelago, the Finnish coast and Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian coastlines, the Polish Baltic shore, the German coast from Kiel to Usedom, and the Danish Baltic islands.
Q2. What software is required to use TZ Maps?
TZ Maps require TimeZero Navigator v5 or TimeZero Professional v5 software installed on a compatible computer system. TZ Maps do not operate on standalone chartplotters from other manufacturers.
Q3. Can TZ Maps be used for SOLAS chart carriage compliance?
TZ Maps are designed for navigation planning and situational awareness. Vessels subject to SOLAS Chapter V carriage requirements should verify that their chart products and navigation equipment meet applicable flag state standards. Contact ANS for guidance on SOLAS-compliant chart solutions.
Q4. What chart data types are included in the TZ Map pack?
Each TZ Map pack integrates georeferenced raster charts (official hydrographic office imagery from Swedish, Finnish, German, and Baltic State national services), vector chart data, high-resolution bathymetry with BathyVision 3D display, satellite photography overlay, and detailed land information, including coastline features and infrastructure.
Q5. Can multiple TZ Map regions be used simultaneously?
Multiple TZ Map data packs can be installed within the same TimeZero software environment, providing seamless coverage transitions when navigating between regions. Combining the Baltic Sea pack with TZ Map: Skagerrak & Kattegat provides complete coverage from the North Sea approaches through the Danish straits and across the full Baltic basin.