Effective 1 January 2013, the Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH) will narrow the focus of its publishing of printed nautical publications to the most important continental European harbour approaches in the North and Baltic Sea. The resulting withdrawal of nautical charts and sailing directions is based on an in-depth study of demand for these products and of the economics of their production.

• The BSH will cancel its nautical publications covering the sea areas in the Gulf of Bothnia (14 and 15), off the east coast of the United Kingdom (22 and 23), the UK and French Channel coast (25) as well as the south coast of Norway (24), and will discontinue its correction service for official UK publications in the areas affected. Selected plotting sheets and small-scale general, planning, and fishery boundary charts covering the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean will also be cancelled.

• The following BSH charts are cancelled effective 1 January 2013:

  • sea area 14 (Sea of Bothnia):
    DE 173 (INT 1207), DE 241, DE 1317, DE 1319 (INT 1139)

  • sea area 15 (Bay of Bothnia), all charts:
    DE 176, DE 177, DE 242, DE 1322, DE 1323, DE 1327, DE 1328 (INT 1150), DE 1335 (INT 1175)

  • sea area 20 (North Atlantic Ocean):
    DE 249 (INT 160), DE 1000 (INT 1041)

  • sea area 22 (east coast of Britain), all charts:
    DE 192, DE 193 (INT 1510), DE 194 (INT 1570), DE 195 (INT 1573), DE 196 (INT 1511), DE 197 (INT 1563), DE 198 (INT 1562), DE 199 (INT 1572), DE 200 (INT 1574), DE 201 (INT 1560), DE 202 (INT 1509), DE 203 (INT 1558), DE 204 (INT 1508), DE 205 (INT 1556), DE 213 (INT 1559)

  • sea area 23 (east coast of Britain), all charts:
    DE 217 (INT 1507), DE 218 (INT 1552), DE 220 (INT 1551), DE 221 (INT 1506), DE 222 (INT 1550), DE 224 (INT 1547), DE 225 (INT 1505), DE 226 (INT 1544), DE 227 (INT 1546), DE 228 (INT 1543), DE 229 (INT 1504), DE 230 (INT 1542), DE 231, DE 232 (INT 1503), DE 233, DE 234 (INT 1601), DE 235, DE 236, DE 284, DE 1471, DE 1472, DE 1473, DE 1474, DE 1476

  • sea area 24 (south coast of Norway), all charts:
    DE 473, DE 753, DE 756, DE 757, DE 758, DE 759, DE 760, DE 761, DE 762, DE 763, DE 764, DE 765, DE 766, DE 767, DE 768

  • sea area 25 (English Channel), all charts:
    DE 66 (INT 1071), DE 67 (INT 1072), DE 245 (INT 1512), DE 248 (INT 1482), DE 250 (INT 1564), DE 260 (INT 1731), DE 261 (INT 1704), DE 262 (INT 1703), DE 263 (INT 1730), DE 264 (INT 1729), DE 265 (INT 1733), DE 266 (INT 1705), DE 267, DE 268 (INT 1753), DE 269 (INT 1702), DE 270 (INT 1726), DE 271 (INT 1725), DE 273 (INT 1701), DE 274 (INT 1722), DE 275 (INT 1719), DE 276 (INT 1700), DE 277 (INT 1708), DE 278 (INT 1706), DE 279 (INT 1707), DE 280 (INT 1800), DE 281, DE 282 (INT 1831), DE 283, DE 285, DE 314 (INT 1743), DE 1030 (INT 1751), DE 1036, DE 1037, DE 1038, DE 1039, DE 1040, DE 1041 (INT 1754)

  • all great circle charts:
    DE 2700, DE 2701, DE 2702, DE 2703, DE 2704

  • plotting sheets and other charts:
    Karten DE 2557, DE 2558, DE 2603, DE 2812, DE 2813, DE 2820, DE 2830, DE 2831, DE 2832, DE 2833, DE 2834, DE 2835

  • all fishery boundary charts:
    DE 385, DE 959 (INT 113), DE 960 (INT 112), DE 961, DE 962

• The small-scale charts of the international series INT 112 (DE 960) and INT 113 (DE 959) were taken over by Landhelgisgæsla Íslands as IS 10 (INT 112) and by Kartverket Norway as NO 315 (INT 113), respectively.

• The single remaining chart DE 207 of sea area 25 will be shifted to sea area 22, chart DE 63 of sea area 24 will be shifted to sea area 21 and chart DE 755 of sea area 24 will be shifted to sea area 17.

• Work on unpublished new chart DE 286 „Ansteuerung von Brest“ is cancelled.

• The following BSH sailing directions (pilots) are cancelled effective 1 January 2013:
  Nordsee-Handbuch, westlicher Teil (DE 2008); Nordsee-Handbuch, östlicher Teil (DE 2012); Kanal-Handbuch (DE 20171); Handbuch der Ozeanwege (DE 2057)

• The remaining sailing directions affected by the reduction in coverage will be updated when issued as New Editions or through NfS corrections.

Admiralty charts and publications will be considered as before for those areas still covered by BSH that suffer from insufficient coverage by official publications by BSH itself. The correction system of the Admiralty Notices to Mariners (NtM) will be adopted (including blocks) for selected publications and will be reprinted in NfS.

Note: The enclosure „List of sea areas and charts relating to them“ (List of Charts 2013) in the centre of NfS issue 39/12 shows the changes to BSH charts and those Admiralty charts for which updates will be issued through Nachrichten für Seefahrer (NfS) as reprints of Admiralty Notices to Mariners.

Source: NfS issue 39/12 (*), Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie

See also: NfS issue 51-52/12 (*), Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie