NOORDERSOFT
Electronic Navigation Charts (ENC) must in fact be produced by the formal authority that manages the concerned waterways. In reality, both the quality and the coverage of formal ENC publications are often so poor, that NoorderSoft has to produce their own ENC of all those areas where data are missing or incorrect. These "private" ENC can be used with any PC-Navigo ENC that covers the same geographic area.
In areas where official ENC are available (i.e. the larger waterways of the Netherlands, most of the German rivers and the Austrian, Tchechian and Swiss waterways) NoorderSoft does NOT produce ENC: those charts can be used (partly even free of charge where the authorities make them available without any cost, since NoorderSoft does not want to make a profit with publically available data). The chart production is limited to those areas, where NO official coverage is available or where the quality of the official coverage is below standard. The private charts must be paid, but at a very competing rate: a whole country will generally not cost more than 95 euros; comparable cartography will always be at least five times more expensive than the NoorderSoft ENC.
"It can't be any good for such a price" is what we often hear. But NoorderSoft has a few advantages which make these extreme rates possible: 1. the modest size of the company (not twenty, but three people on the pay role); 2. intelligent convsersion possibilities that allow us to use our extensive data bases to save digitalisation work; 3. an optimal use of cheap or free source data without lowering the quality requirements. Using these advantages, NoorderSoft can sell for prices that are no more than a fraction of competing products, and yet remain in business.
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| The images above show, that the private ENC follow the same borders as the formal coverage of the neighbouring country, the Netherlands. Thus a minimal effort results in a maximal coverage and quality. |
After the ENC charts of Belgium we will produce the missing areas in the formal coverage of the Netherlands waterways. The formal authority, Rijkswaterstaat, has only produced charts of the CEMT class IV and V waterways and therefore there are smaller or even larger gaps. In the same way as in Belgium, these gaps will be filled in and a total coverage of all three Benelux countries should be accomplished by the end of 2008
After the Netherlands, the North West of Germany will be dealt with: the formal coverage of the Wasser- und Schifffahrts Dienst now covers the Rhine, Mosel, Saar, Neckar, Main, Elbe and Danube rivers and the Main-Danube Canal. In spite of many urges from waterways users, a fast extension of this coverage cannot be expected. NoorderSoft will therefore produce charts of the canals in North-Western Germany (Rhine-Herne Canal, Wesel-Dattlen Canal, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Mittelland Canal) and the waterways to and around Berlin (Elbe-Haval Canal, Lower Havel Navigation and the Berlin waterways).
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| In Mechelen the ENC produces a clear image of the situation in the harbour and the lock. | The passage through Liège; the chart shows the Atlas bridge and the entry to the Port Coronmeuse as well as the unnavigable branch of the Meuse. |
