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16 May 2016 / United States

Incomplete & inaccurate reproductions of United States Coast Pilot book

NOAA has recently become aware that incomplete and otherwise inaccurate reproductions of the U.S. Coast Pilot are being offered for sale to consumers. Consumers need to be aware that such reproductions may not meet U.S. Coast Guard carriage requirements.

How do you know if your copy of the U.S. Coast Pilots is incomplete and therefore out of compliance with Coast Guard safety regulations?

Unofficial U.S. Coast Pilots are generally easy to identify, and have exhibited errors.

  • The entire content of the inaccurate book (aside from the interior and exterior covers) is printed as a black and white document (the official copy has color images and text)
  • Front and back cover images do not correspond to the examples presented as thumbnails on the U.S. Coast Pilot website.
  • Chapters are missing from the table of contents (e.g., missing chapters 1 and 2, and starting at chapter 3).
  • There is no index.
  • There are claims that the book is an exact reproduction of the current Coast Guard document. (The U.S. Coast Pilot is a NOAA product and not a U.S. Coast Guard document.)
  • There are directions to download a free phone app to access information not included in the book.

Where do you get official copies of the United States Coast Pilot?

  • Purchase official publications from a printer certified by NOAA. These agents meet stringent print quality standards that meet federal requirements for vessels required to carry navigation navigational publications “published by the National Ocean Service.” (Official publications carry the NOAA certification of authenticity printed on the back cover of the book.)
  • Digital versions of the updated U.S. Coast Pilot are also available as PDFs for free download from the Coast Pilot website (nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/CoastPilot)….

…NOAA is currently working to address any issues of improper trademark reproduction that may be associated with these unofficial reproductions of the U.S. Coast Pilot.

(For information about operations in the USA contact GAC USA at [email protected])

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.

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