Bellingham Chart Printers - Canadian Charts

[Sailorsrus]

I wanted to make members aware of photocopied Canadian charts that Bellingham Chart Printers are selling. They are misrepresenting that they are selling Current Edition charts for Canadian waters -- THEY ARE NOT. Their website reads "Charts are either originals or reproductions of CURRENT EDITION original NIMA or NOAA charts". After ordering a chart kit for the east coast I noticed that all the charts were dated 1990's or earlier. I did some digging and found out that some of the chart editions are no longer being produced by the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS). This means they have been replaced by other chart numbers and cannot be updated with Notices to Mariners.

I called Bellingham to get their side of the story. They finally admitted that the charts are the most recent NIMA edition from when CHS had an agreement to exchange data with CHS in the 1990's. CHS has not been providing charts to them after this time so they cannot be current edition charts. Bellingham returned my money and did not ask for the charts back. Unfortunately, they are still misrepresenting what they are selling on their website. They are selling old charts and putting mariners in danger!

The only paper charts in Canada are produced by CHS. They cannot be photocopied as this is illegal. Once you buy Canadian charts, they may be continually updated by going to http://www.notmar.gc.ca/go.php?doc=eng/index