UKHO to refresh the ADMIRALTY Leisure Chart Folio service from October 2021

The current ADMIRALTY Leisure Chart Folio service contains A2-sized charts to support coastal navigation around the UK.

Each regional folio includes several charts with appropriate coverage and scales of the respective region, to help leisure yachtsmen, motorboat cruisers, ocean racing skippers and other small craft mariners to maintain safety of life at sea.

In response to user feedback as part of a thorough review of the service, the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) will be removing the regional folio structure for these charts, allowing charts to be purchased individually. This will allow users to purchase charts that are relevant to their needs without being required to purchase the full regional folio. These charts will be produced through a Print-on-Demand (POD) service, available via ADMIRALTY Distributors.

New editions of these charts will also be aligned with the new editions of SOLAS-compliant ADMIRALTY Standard Nautical Charts (SNCs), ensuring all mariners have the same access to the latest navigational information for safe passage in UK waters. For chart updating, users will be able to apply the standard Notices to Mariners (NMs) using the SNC number from which the chart was derived. These combined enhancements will bring important safety, quality and flexibility benefits to the users who rely on them.

Additionally, newly purchased charts will include all updates up to the date of the last refresh of the chart images, which may be as frequent as after every NM. This means users can choose to buy a new chart instead of manually applying NMs to an existing chart.

Also, as these valued A2-sized charts are used by other small craft mariners, including the RNLI, the small craft fishing fleet, infrastructure maintenance workboats, small tourist cruise boats etc, the UKHO will be changing the name of this service from ADMIRALTY Leisure Chart Folios to ADMIRALTY Small Craft Chart Service.

As a result of these changes, the current ADMIRALTY Leisure Chart Folios will be phased out and withdrawn (along with the supporting Leisure Notices to Mariners), and the new service will be launched from October 2021.

New editions of existing folios 5615 and 5606, have already been released to ensure that users have access to up-to-date charts whilst the new service is being prepared. A new edition of 5603 is due to be released on 2 September 2021. A new edition of 5601 will now be released on 30 September 2021 as previously announced

ADMIRALTY Small Craft Chart Service will have a recommended retail price (RRP) of £15.00 per sheet. Discounts for users that purchase multiple charts in a single transaction will be available as outlined below:

• 5-9 charts receive 35% discount
• 10-14 charts receive 65% discount
• 15+ charts receive 75% discount

Users of existing ADMIRALTY Leisure Chart Folios will continue to be supported with NMs for at least a year after the launch of the new service, either through the continued publication of Leisure NMs or by using the link between the Folio charts and SNCs to apply standard NMs. However, Folio charts should be replaced by the equivalent new edition Small Craft Chart once a new edition of the source SNC has been published to ensure they have the most up-to-date navigational information.

If users have any feedback on this proposal, or any questions about how these changes will affect Small Craft Folios already purchased, please contact Customer Services on customerservices@ukho.gov.uk.