We expect that the major publishers of charts for non commercial shipping chart plotters (called ECS by the IMO) will eventually make a valid licensing agreement with the HKHO but there is definitely a hole at the moment, and that hole especially concerns those using PC based chart plotters and iPhone/iPad systems. Now you can get all hot and bothered about this and say it is all terribly unfair and stupid, but if you look at it the other way, companies like Navionics have been charging you for charts which they themselves have not paid for, and locking you into a single source of supply as well! A great way indeed to make a profit! Not the HKHO’s fault therefore… Garmin have also announced that HK chart data is being pulled from the next release of Garmin charts (out in February).Ĭ-Map has not made any announcement as yet but we are expecting them to also pull HK chart data from their next release. In any case, Navionics pulled HK chart data from their products in December. I have spoken to a very well intentioned and reasonable chap at the HKHO and he explained to me that though they do license their chart data for sale through the UKHO, it is not licensed for on sale to other chart suppliers, and that UKHO had stated that in their data supply agreements to not only Navionics, but also Garmin and C-Map. Navionics replied saying they were paying a license but to the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO – the publisher of Admiralty Charts).
Recently Navionics announced that the Hong Kong Hydrographic Office (HKHO) had sent them a letter informing them that they had to remove the Hong Kong Chart data they were using as they had not paid a license fee for it.
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