The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) makes and distributes for free over the Internet, official NOAA Raster Navigational Charts (NOAA RNCs™). These NOAA RNCs are digital, raster versions of the official nautical charts. They are distributed in the .BSB format used by numerous, commercially available navigation software packages. NOAA distributes both RNCs to which Notice to Mariners chart corrections are applied every week, and cumulative electronic updates that may be used to update previously distributed RNCs. RNCs downloaded by an end user from NOAA's Internet site (www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov) are official NOAA RNCs™, and satisfy chart carriage regulations where permitted by the Code of Federal Regulations.

In order to increase the distribution and use of NOAA RNCs, a network of certified distributors is being established. Certified RNC distributors may download official NOAA RNCs, redistribute, repackage, package with additional data and services, and sell the resulting product for whatever price they choose. NOAA RNCs redistributed by a certified distributor acting in conformance with the distributorship Agreement retain their official status, and may be used to meet chart carriage regulations where permitted by the Code of Federal Regulations. No other method of redistribution provides this official status for the RNCs.

The NOAA RNC™ Distributorship Agreement and instructions for application are posted on the Internet. Click here to download the Agreement as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf document. Questions may be directed to our customer support site; please click here

Revised June 09, 2008