--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 10:28:26 -0500
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: where to buy nautical charts
Sender: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]




Dear Elisabeth and others:

The Russian option is often overlooked for nautical charts, yet they
probably have a larger publishing program than NIMA and NOAA
combined.  Unlike with Russian topo maps, many charts come in
bilingual or English-only versions, and for certain areas
(Caspian/Black/White/Okhotsk seas, Russian Arctic, Russian
internal waterways, Chinese coast, Cuban coast) the Russian
charts are either unique or quite superior to NIMA/NOAA charts.

Russian charts (about 8000 worldwide) are for the most part
produced by the Russian Navy's GUNiO organization [Main
Directorate for Navigation and Oceanography].  They are published
in paper, raster and vector formats.  Also unlike the Russian topo
maps, they are kept extremely fresh and updated.  GUNiO
publishes the Russian version of "Notice to Mariners" [Izveshcheniia
Moreplavateliam], a weekly which lists all new charts and revisions.

Although these charts have traditionally been rather difficult to
obtain and expensive, now that East View Cartographic is an official
GUNiO distributor and stocks the majority of the 8000 charts, the
per-chart price is much cheaper--basically equivalent to that of
NIMA/NOAA for sets.

Please see our web page
http://www.cartographic.com/nauticalmap.html
for further details, of feel free to contact us should you or your
patrons have questions.

Best regards,




Kent D. Lee
President
East View Publications, Inc.
tel: 612-550-0961
fax: 612-559-2931
http://www.eastview.com
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