TIMEZERO Blog

If you’ve ever wondered what is the logic behind the chart references found on our online nautical chart catalogue, here’s the answer.

All our charts present the same information when you make a search on our online nautical chart catalogue: name of the zone (Baltic Sea and Denmark in the example below), number of files that you must download in order to install the chart (8 in the example) and chart reference (WVJENM299MAP13.1):

If you already have the chart reference, you can type it in the search bar (green rectangle in the image above). If you put at least 3 characters, our online nautical chart catalogue will display all the chart zones that start with that 3 characters, that’s called stemming.

But be careful, old versions of some chart zones may have a different syntax.

Take the UK-Ireland Raster chart for example:

• First version reference was R28P-MAP/01
• Second version WR28MAP2.1
• Latest version WRMEW28MAP7.1

TIMEZERO online nautical chart catalogue only displays the latest version of all charts, so if you try to find your old UK-Ireland chart by typing “R28P-MAP/01″ you’ll never find it!

Here’s how TIMEZERO charts are structured:

SIZE = W wide or MW MegaWide (do you know the difference?)

TYPE = V vector or R raster (an old and interesting debate among sailors)

PROVIDER = M MapMedia  J C-MAP (previously by Jeppesen)  N Navionics  S S-57

REGION CODE = first 2 characters

AF Africa

AN Asia North

AS Asia South

AU Australia

EM Europe Mediterranean

EN Europe North

EW Europe West

IN Indian Ocean

ME Middle East

NA North America

SA South America

PC Pacific Ocean

CODE NUMBER = 000

To find a chart zone in our website, you have 3 options:

• Use the filters on the left side of the online nautical chart catalogue
• Type the chart’s reference in the search bar of the catalogue
• Check our charts list which is categorized by region, type, size, provider and name

Now, if you still don’t find what you’re looking for, try TIMEZERO search bar located at the  top-right corner across the entire website:

Finally, take the time to read these few tips on how to choose the best nautical chart for you, it can help you make a decision!