Admiralty Vector Chart Service (AVCS)

The Admiralty Vector Chart Service (AVCS) offers over 12,500 Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) from hydrographic offices worldwide. It is the most robust and comprehensive digital maritime chart service globally. Charts are available in value-added packages that are quality assured by the United Kingdom Hydropgraphic Office (UKHO.)

 

Official coverage

For most major shipping routes, crews using AVCS may navigate with electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) for their entire voyage. Included are ENCs covering the waters of United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Malacca Strait, Taiwan and over 2,900 other important ports. Additionally, Admiralty provides unique coverage for over 200 ports.

All ships using AVCS receive a UKHO certificate, which confirms that all ENCs using AVCS satisfy the chart carriage requirements of SOLAS Chapter V.

 

Extra navigational information included

Included, at no extra cost, with AVCS, is the Admiralty Information Overlay (AIO.) The AIO alerts bridge crews to areas of possible navigational risk and provides detailed information about any uncertainties. The AIO displays all UKHO Temporary and Preliminary Notices to Mariners and ENC Preliminary Notices to Mariners in a window that opens above ENC on the ECDIS display.

 

Ongoing safety and compliance

AVCS customers receive ENC updates on a weekly basis through four available means: CD, DVD, e-mail or download. It is essential that updates are installed regularly to comply with SOLAS Chapter V requirements, ensure proper operation of the ECDIS and navigate safely.

The risk of data piracy or distribution of unofficial, malicious ENCs is low as the AVCS S-63 Edition 1.1 meets protection standards released from the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO,) which are regularly updated.

 

Admiralty Vector Chart Service

Admiralty is the world’s leading ENC service, helping crews to navigate safely and efficiently around the globe.

 

AVCS offers:

 

• A value-added service featuring official, hydrographic office-issued ENC digital charts in a comprehensive package.

 

• Coverage of routes and ports around the globe: more than any competing ENC service

 

• Access to detailed navigational information with Admiralty Information Overlay (AIO.)

 

• Certificates are issued, which aid in Port State Control inspection compliance.

 

• Weekly ENC updates via e-mail, online or shipped CD or DVD.

 

AVCS includes:

• Admiralty e-Navigator Planning Station if needed.

 

• A three month trial subscription with Admiralty Digital Publications.

 

The AVCS is the most robust and comprehensive, official digital chart service available in the world today. The service offers over 12,500 ENCs from official government hydrographic offices worldwide, quality assured by the UKHO and bundled into a single, value-added service.

 

Why AVCS?

AVCS keep ships compliant with SOLAS Chapter V provisions, but more than that, it helps them navigate more safely and efficiently.

Incorporated with AVCS is the AIO to aid in the identification of areas of navigational risk and uncertainty when planning voyages. Admiralty capitalizes on the UKHO's position as a leading provider of paper nautical charts to bring this service to mariners.

 

More routes, more ports

AVCS provides the most extensive official coverage of any ENC provider. When using ENCs designated for official coverage, ships may navigate on ECDIS for the entirety of most voyages following major routes using a single chart service. Coverage waters include Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Malacca Strait. AVCS includes 2,950 of the largest and busiest ports globally, of which AVCS offers unique coverage for over 200.

 

Carriage-compliant, 100% official ENCs

UKHO certificates bearing the ship name and licence expiry date are provided to all ships with AVCS installed. This certificate confirms that all the chart carriage requirements of SOLAS Chapter V are met when using ENCs in AVCS.

Additionally, the UKHO certificate is provided as a digital file that may be printed or viewed through ADMIRALTY e-Navigator Planning Station, which often aids in expediting local flag state and port inspections.

 

Ongoing safety and compliance

Ensuring that every AVCS customer receives a complete and up-to-date set of data on board is essential to remaining SOLAS Chapter V compliant. AVCS customers receive ENC updates via e-mail, download or a shipped CD or DVD, on a weekly basis.

Installing provided ENC updates on a regular basis is essential to proper ECDIS operation, safe navigation and compliance with SOLAS Chapter V, flag and port state requirements.

 

Optimized chart holdings

AVCS ENCs are available in predefined transit, regional or port groups of ENCs called folios. Automatically, new ENCs are added to folio holdings as soon as they become available, ensuring that ships always have the up-to-date data reflecting their chosen level of coverage.

Alternatively, all ENCs within AVCS are available on an individual, chart-by-chart basis providing precise coverage and voyage flexibility when necessary. Customers may purchase the licenses required to unlock charts needed for a voyage - at any time - and for as long as they are needed. Individual charts are available for 3, 6, 9 and 12 month terms.

 

Folios

 

Transit Folios

Transit folios are designed to give all the ENC coverage needed for a ship to sail safely through an area when not engaging in trade locally, saving mariners the cost of acquiring detailed ENC coverage for areas that mariners are just sailing through, whilst including more ENC coverage to negotiate the choke points such as the Suez Canal and Malacca Strait.

AVCS Transit Folio Overview | Example Transit Folio

 

Regional Folios

Regional folios cover a smaller geographical area than Transit Folios but include all Coastal and some Approach ENCs mariners might need when sailing close to shore, where coastal coverage is not available. These folios of ENCs are made for local and coast line trade, where more descriptive coverage of complex coastal areas is needed. They do not include Port Approaches or Entry ENCs.

AVCS Regional Folio Overview | Example Regional Folio

 

Port Folios

Port Folios are usually made up of Approach, Harbour and Berthing ENCs grouped into a single data set unit. Under normal operational conditions, ships approaching a port directly from an ocean passage will need Transit and Port Folios only if not involved in coastal operations.

In the instance where a majority of major ports are close in proximity such as in a complex waterway (e.g. Japan's 'Bungo Suido and Western Inland Sea'), one Port Folio may be all that is needed to provide necessary coverage.

Example Port Folios

 

Chart by Chart

Mariners have the option to hand-pick single ENC chart coverage that is needed to meet the specific requirements of the mariner's Fleet to ensure exact coverage of the shipping routes.

All ENCs in the Admiralty Vector Chart Service can be picked on a chart-by-chart basis as individual ENC cells. These cells are the smallest electronic chart data unit of sale allowed by ENC producers and typically have ENC data approximately equivalent to a nautical chart.

 

Combination

Mariners can combine AVCS Folios selected with individual ENC cells for unrivaled coverage and complete voyage flexibility.

 

 

Admiralty Information Overlay, unique extra navigational data

All AVCS customers receive the unique AIO at no extra cost. The AIO is an innovative feature that provides detail information to mariners in a pop-up window, which displays over the ENCs Vector Charts display on the ECDIS.

As a result of the UKHO's unique ENC verification process, the AIO is able to incorporate all Temporary and Preliminary Notices to Mariners for all Admiralty paper charts, and ENC Preliminary Notices to Mariners.

Available on a growing number of ECDIS manufactured by different providers and back-of-bridge software, including the Admiralty e-Navigator, are AIOs. AIOs are easy-to-use and clearly displayed in a single layer on top of the ENC.

AVCS and AIO help make every passage safer, simpler, more efficient and more cost effective.

While all ENC services provide compliance only the Admiralty and the Admiralty Information Overlay provides mariners with the latest and most accurate information to sail confidently and safely in the toughest marine environments.

 

Easy chart selection, ordering and management

Ensuring that ENCs are always current is essential for safe navigation. The Admiralty e-Navigator Planning Station is a chart selection, ordering and management software system, which allows bridge crews to receive updates and data at sea via the Internet.

The Admiraly e-Navigator Planning Station also allows crews to view ENCs and AIO to identify the safest and most efficient route for their voyage, where chart permits allow. Crews may also use it to order additional navigational charts, reference books and guides required to successfully complete their journey.

The Admiralty e-Navigator Planning Station is provided to Admiralty customers at no extra cost.

 

AVCS and AIO compatible display systems

AVCS is available in S-63 / S57 industry-standard formats assuring compatibility with all type-approved ECDIS, even in mixed fleets.

AIO helps navigators in identifying locations with heightened risk or uncertainty.

 

Manufacturer	Model	Type Approved	AVCS	AIO	AIO compatible ECDIS version*	ARCS	Installation Guide
Admiralty	e-Navigator Planning Station		yes	yes	2.4.10	yes
ChartWorld	e-Globe ECDIS	yes	yes	yes	4000.10.207 ECDIS Kernel v 5.12	yes
Consilium	ECDIS S-ECDIS	yes yes	yes yes	yes yes	4.5.4.27 10.2.xx	yes yes
Danelec	Danelec ECDIS	yes	yes			yes	Download
Furuno	FEA-2107 FEA-2807 FMD 3200 FMD 3300	yes yes yes yes	yes yes yes yes	yes yes yes yes	6.21 6.21 All All	yes yes yes yes	Download
Imtech	ECDIS 3500 ECDIS 4500	yes yes	yes yes			yes yes
JRC	JAN-701B JAN-901B JAN-2000	yes yes yes	yes yes yes	yes yes yes	ECDIS application 2.02 Maintenance no. v56 Chart portfolio 2.02	yes yes yes	Download
Kelvin Hughes	Manta Digital 20" / 22" / 26" Manta 1700 / 2000 / 2300	yes yes	yes yes			yes	Download
Kongsberg	K-Bridge ECDIS	yes	yes			yes
L-3 Valmarine	NaviNet ECDIS	yes	yes			yes	Download
MARIS	ECDIS900	yes	yes	yes	4.5.3.16	yes	Download
Offshore Systems Ltd.	ECPINS 4000 ECPINS 5000 ECPINS-M ECPINS-W	yes yes yes yes	yes yes yes yes	yes yes yes yes	6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0	yes yes yes yes
PC Maritime	Navmaster ECDIS	yes	yes			yes
Raytheon Anschütz	NSC ECDIS Version E04.05 Synapsis ECDIS Version E04.08	yes yes	yes yes			yes yes	Download
SAM Electronics	MULTIPILOT 1100	yes	yes			yes
SevenCs	ORCA Master (free 3 month trial available)		yes	yes	4.5	yes	Download
Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine	Vision Master FT ECDIS	yes	yes			yes	Download
Totem Plus	Totem ECDIS	yes	yes	yes	2.0 / AIO
Tokyo Keiki	EC-8000 EC-8500	yes yes	yes yes			yes yes	Download
Transas	Navi-Sailor 3000 ECDIS MFD Navi-Sailor 4000 ECDIS MFD Standard, Standard+, Premium, Premium+	yes yes yes	yes yes yes	yes yes	2.00.320.3052	yes yes yes	Download

 

* The minimum ECDIS software version number necessary to view the Admiralty Information Overlay (AIO) is specified by the AIO compatible ECDIS version number.

Some older ECDIS, particularly those built before 2009, may offer sub-par performance when installing Admiralty ECDIS service. Please contact the ECDIS manufacturer with regard to sub-par performance with ECDIS equipment that was installed before 2009.

 

License Information

 

Please see below for full information on terms and conditions from the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office:

ENC Readme file
End User Licence Agreement

 

Pricing and Coverage

 

We are happy to answer questions, recommend solutions for your specific situation and provide quotes and pricing information: for more information about AVCS, please contact us.