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The East Asia Hydrographic Commission (EAHC) was formed within the framework of the International Hydrographic
Organization (IHO). The mission of it is to work out
regional cooperative programmes through the endeavors of national
hydrographic offices for the provision of adequate and timely hydrographic information for marine navigation in the
region. In this respect, the EAHC is very pleased to accomplish this mission by producing small scale official Electronic
Navigational Charts (ENC) of the South China Sea to serve the maritime community. Presently, the EAHC has nine Member
States (MSs) : China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Indonesia,
Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
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Background of producing the SCS ENC |
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The South China Sea (SCS) is one of the world's busiest international sea lanes. More than half of the world's
supertanker traffic passes through the region's waters. Over half of the world's merchant fleet (by tonnage) sails
through the SCS every year. Over the years littoral MSs of the SCS, as well as some countries outside the region, have
produced small scale paper charts covering the area. MSs of the EAHC produced large scale ENCs covering their own
waters, particularly the major ports.
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Regional Cooperation |
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Realizing that official and high quality small scale ENCs conforming with the established IHO standard were not
available for the SCS, the EAHC MSs decided to cooperate closely and resolve the situation so that mariners could use
most up-to-date chart information for voyage planning and enhancing safety of navigation, rather than resorted to some
commercially developed electronic products which were either prepared in proprietary formats, or containing unofficial
data with very infrequent updating.
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First Edition SCS ENC |
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In March 2005, the First Edition SCS ENC was launched using a number of paper charts ranging from a scale of 1:200,000
to 1:1,250,000 produced by the littoral MSs as source data. The MSs had generously shared with the EAHC the copyright
of the data depicted from these selected paper charts and ENCs.
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Second Edition SCS ENC |
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The Second Edition SCS ENC is launched on 1 October 2008 and is produced based on most up-to-date data. The compilation
scale of this new edition ENC is 1:700,000 and is categorized under the usage band of General Navigational Purpose. It
complies with IHO Transfer Standard for Digital Hydrographic Data S-57 Edition 3.1.1
specifications.
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Price |
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It was the view that if the SCS ENC could be freely and widely available to mariners, it would further enhance the
safety of navigation in the region. This in turn could reduce the chances of environmental damage from grounding and
oil pollution, which have tremendous cost impact. The EAHC decided to provide the SCS ENC to users free of charge.
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Third Party Distribution |
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To allow wider distribution of the SCS ENC, third parties, such as Hydrographic Offices outside the region, chart
agents and ENC centres are allowed to distribute the ENC. These third parties need to obtain distribution permission
from the EAHC. They should not charge their customers for the SCS ENC.
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Download SCS ENC |
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To download the SCS ENC, user has to register
with the EAHC. After registration, registered user will receive via email
a password for accessing the Download
Page and the Updating Page.
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Updating |
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The SCS ENC will be updated on monthly basis. Registered users will receive notification by email when updates are
available for downloading.
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