AVCS

Overview

The Admiralty Vector Chart Service (AVCS) brings together Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) from national Hydrographic offices around the world and new ENC coverage produced by UKHO in co-operation with Foreign Governments to provide comprehensive, official, worldwide coverage.

Continuous Enhancement

AVCS meets customer requirements for a comprehensive, world-wide, full carriage compliant electronic chart service. AVCS continues to develop in response to customer feedback through an ongoing programme of enhancements. Full details of planned enhancements are available on the ‘Future Enhancements’ tab.

Compliant

The Admiralty Vector Chart Service only contains ENC data that meets Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Carriage Requirements for use within Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS). Quality UKHO has instituted a programme of assessment by its professional cartographers where the content of the ENC is compared to the equivalent Admiralty paper chart. Any navigationally significant discrepancies identified are then investigated and resolved with the producing nation. No other electronic chart service offers this level of reassurance.

Licensing

AVCS licences are for a 12 month period, within which you will hold an AVCS media pack, containing world-wide AVCS data, receive weekly updates to the AVCS data set and have access to online updates through the Admiralty Updating Service. Within the licence period, AVCS Folios and ENC Units can be added for periods of three, six, nine or twelve months, where data supply agreements allow. This offers maximum choice and the flexibility to match your chart holdings to your operational patterns.

Fixed Annual Cost

With AVCS Folios you can be sure of maintaining access to all the latest information without the need to repeatedly amend your budgets. Any new ENC data that becomes available will be included in the appropriate AVCS Folio at no additional cost for the period of your Licence.

Complete Flexibility

Every AVCS customer is provided with a complete set of Base discs containing every ENC available within the Service. These discs are ‘locked’ but allow your vessel to carry complete coverage whilst only paying for the folios and charts required. Chart holdings can be upgraded quickly and easily at any point during the licence period, unlocking additional charts to extend your coverage.

Support

The Admiralty Vector Chart Service is backed by UKHO Helpdesk support during normal office hours, and an emergency permit generation helpline outside those hours, providing complete confidence and peace of mind.

New AVCS Features

Chart-by-Chart Ordering

  • All ENCs in AVCS are available to be selected on a chart-by-chart basis as ENC Units. These Units are the smallest unit of sale allowed by the ENC producers and usually contain ENC data approximately equivalent to a paper chart.
  • AVCS also continues to be available in Transit, Regional and Port Folios, offering customers the maximum flexibility to choose between managed folios and chart-by-chart selection of the coverage that they require.

Flexible Licensing of Units

  • The existing flexible licensing of AVCS Folios is extended to ENC Units. Therefore it is possible to add individual ENC Units to an AVCS licence for periods of 3, 6 ,9 and 12 months, where permissions allow.

AVCS Certificate of Ownership

  • All AVCS customers receive an AVCS certificate of ownership confirming that the licensed vessel is navigating on AVCS and that AVCS is comprised only of SOLAS carriage compliant ENCs.

    Admiralty Digital Catalogue

  • A new version of the Admiralty Digital Catalogue is available to support AVCS. The new Catalogue includes:
    • Improved selection of AVCS products, allowing easy combination of coverage selection by both AVCS Folios and ENC Units.
    • A new T&P NMs tab allowing geographical and route-based searching of all Admiralty T&P NMs. This gives all Admiralty customers, including AVCS customers, access to the latest T&P NM information, updated weekly. This will help to ensure that route planning decisions are made based on the most complete information available.