2014 Chart Users Questionnaire

OMB Control No. 0648-0342 Expiration Date 4-30-2015

2014 Chart Users Questionnaire

Paperwork Reduction Act Information:

In accordance with Executive Order 12862, the National Performance Review, and good management practices, NOAA offices seek to determine whether their customers are satisfied with the services/products they are receiving and whether they have suggestions as to how the services/products may be improved or made more useful. The information will be used to improve NOAA’s products and services. Responses to this survey are completely voluntary. No confidentiality can be provided for responses, but you need not supply your name and address. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 10 minutes per response. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Matt Kroll, Station 6350 SSMC, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.

PART I: Trend Questions

Recruitment Question

R.1 Which marine sector best describes your primary role?
CHECK BOX THAT APPLIES TO YOU

Precodes: Commercial mariner (port operators, pilots, commercial vessel
operators, federal/military vessel operators, commercial fishing);
Recreational mariner (sail boat, powerboats and other non-
commercial boats and vessels)

R.2 Answer if Commercial Mariner only:
Is the ship you sail 1600 ton or more?

Precodes: Yes, No, No answer

Main Questionnaire

ASK ALL

Q.1. Which products and services of NOAA have you bought and/or used
in the last 12 months? CHECK ALL THAT APPLY

Precodes: Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC), Raster Navigational Charts
(RNC), Print on Demand charts (POD),
BookletCharts, Historical charts, Coast Pilot, ENC Direct to GIS,
NOAA Hydrographic Survey Priorities, NowCOAST, Tides and
Currents, Physical Oceanographic Real Time System (PORTS),
Online map-based chart locator, Online notice to mariners Chart
updates, Online individual chart viewer, V-Datum, PDF nautical
charts, Continuous chart viewer, Traditional nautical paper chart,
None of these

Q.2. How satisfied are you with the services provided by NOAA Navigation services
Programs? CHECK ONE ONLY

Precodes: Very satisfied, Satisfied, Neither satisfied nor unsatisfied,
Unsatisfied, Very unsatisfied, Do not know

Q.3. How likely is it that you would recommend a NOAA chart to another mariner to
use? CHECK ONE ONLY

Precodes: Very likely, Likely, Neither likely nor unlikely, Unlikely, Very unlikely,
Do not know

Q.4. Please look at each of the NOAA navigation products and services listed below
and rate each for how satisfied you have been with the services provided?
CHECK ONE FOR EACH

Grid: Very satisfied, Satisfied, Neither satisfied nor unsatisfied, Unsatisfied,
Very unsatisfied, Not applicable

Precodes: Quality of products, Quality of services, Timeliness of response to
requests, Cost of the products, Knowledge and helpfulness of the staff in
dealing with your needs, Ease of reaching correct NOS office to deal with
your request, The format of the NOS data received, The descriptions of
NOS products and data in catalogs and the website, Overall satisfaction
with the services provided, Overall satisfaction compared with
products and services obtained from commercial publishers,
Overall satisfaction compared with products and services obtained
from other US federal government agencies, Overall satisfaction
compared with products and services obtained from foreign chart
publishers

Q.5. Have you had any of the following contact with NOAA in the last 12 months?

Precodes: Visited the NOAA Coast Survey website, Downloaded a
NOAA ENC®, Downloaded a NOAA RNC®, Downloaded a NOAA
Coast Pilot®, Bought a product from a NOAA chart agent, Placed an
order after looking at the online chart catalog, Submitted an inquiry
or comment via the NOAA website, Called/emailed NOAA customer
services for information, Called/emailed a NOAA Regional
Navigation Manager, Called NOAA offices for information, Bought a
product from a NOAA chart agent outside the US, None of these

Q.6 Which Marine magazines and websites do you regularly read?

Precodes: Professional Mariner, Boating, Cruising World, Yachting, Ocean

Navigator, Motorboating, Powerboat, Sail, Power and Motor Yacht,

Ocean Voyager, Sailing World, Boat US magazine, Boat US website,
Boating Life, Ship Shape TV, Soundings, Practical Sailor, gCaptain,
Panbo, Other, None of the above

Q.7. How long have you been an active mariner?
CHECK ONE

Precodes: Less than 2 years, 2 to 5 years, 6 to 10 years, 11 to 15 years, 16 to
20 years, 21 to 25 years, Over 25 years

Q.8. Which types of vessel do you operate, work on or sail? CHECK ONE ONLY

Precodes: Container Ship, General Cargo Ship, Tanker, Bulk Carrier,
Passenger Vessel (Passenger or Cruise ship), Tug Boat, Crewboat,
Naval or Coast Guard Vessel, Fishing Boat, Powerboat, Cruiser,
Fishing, Houseboat, Personal Water Craft, Runabout, Sail Boat,
Kayak, Not applicable to my use of charts

Q.9. Please indicate in which age group you fall: CHECK ONE ONLY

Precodes: Under 25 years old, 25 – 29 years old, 30 – 39 years old, 40 – 49
years old, 50 – 59 years old, 60 -69 years old, 70 years or above

Q.10. Are you interested in taking part in future research completed by NOAA?

Precodes: Yes, No

Q.11. Are you interested in receiving a Summary of the Research?

Precodes: Yes, No

Part II: Special Topic Questions

Q.1 ASK COMMERCIAL MARINERS ONLY:

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) made an amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations that require large commercial vessels to have an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) by July 1, 2018.

This regulation already applies to most new SOLAS class vessels. For SOLAS vessels existing prior to July 2012, the table below shows the retrofit deadlines.

Timetable for ECDIS Carriage Requirements
Ship Type	Size	Existing ship
Passenger	Over 500 gross tons	No later than 1st survey after July 1, 2014
Tanker	Over 3,000 gross tons	No later than 1st survey after July 1, 2015
Dry Cargo	Over 50,000 gross tons	No later than 1st survey after July 1, 2016
	20-50,000 gross tones	No later than 1st survey after July 1, 2017
	10-20,000 gross tons	No later than 1st survey after July 1, 2018
	Under 10,000 gross tons	No retrofit requirements

Q.2 Are you prepared for mandatory ECDIS carriage? CHECK ONE ONLY

Precodes: Yes, No – hardware issues, No – software issues,
No – unaware of upcoming regulation, Don’t
know, Does not apply, Other (Please write in)

ASK ALL

Q.3 Looking at the list below please indicate what you like or dislike about NOAA’ s
current Print on Demand charts (POD)? CHECK ONE FOR EACH

Grid: Like a lot, Like, Neither like nor dislike, Dislike, Dislike a lot

Precodes: Size, Colors, Price, Paper quality, Availability, Up-to-date with
Notice to Mariners

Q.4 Do you have any other comments about POD Charts? PLEASE WRITE IN

Q.5.Which of the following POD enhancements would be of use to you?
CHECK ONE FOR EACH

Grid: Very interested, Interested, Neither interested nor not interested,
Not interested, Not very interested

Precodes: Coast Pilot information, Tide and Current information, Safety
(USCG) information, NOAA links, Promotional information for
other NOAA products, Colors similar to traditional NOAA
paper nautical charts, Colors similar to British Admiralty
charts, Thicker paper, Thinner paper, More water resistant
paper, Paper you can more easily write on and erase,
Customize with my information, Cheaper, Newspaper-like
chart subscription, Other (Please write in)

Q.6 Do you view Nautical Charts on a personal mobile device?
CHECK ONE FOR EACH

Grid: Frequently, Sometimes, Never

Precodes: On a Cellphone, On a tablet

Q.7 How do you use Nautical Charts on a personal mobile device?
CHECK ALL THAT APPLY

Precodes: Primary Source of navigation, Backup Source of navigation, Planning, General information/ overview, Non-navigation uses, Does not apply

Q.8 How often do you update the charts on your mobile device?

Precodes: At least once a month, Every few months, Less than twice a
year, Never, Do not know

Q.9 If NOAA were to develop a nautical chart app what features are you most
interested in? CHECK ONE FOR EACH

Grid: Very interested, Interested, Neither interested nor not interested,
Not interested, Not very interested

Precodes: Viewing Coast Pilot, Report chart discrepancy, View updated
chart, Voyage planning, View latest local notice to mariner
updates

10. What type of mobile nautical apps should NOAA be developing for mariners?

Precodes: PLEASE WRITE IN

11. How much would you be willing to pay for official NOAA navigation apps?

Precodes: Free, Under $1, $1 - $3, $3 - $5, $5, -7, $7 - $9, $10, Over $10

12. How satisfied are you with the NOAA Office of Coast Survey website
(nauticalcharts.noaa.gov)? CHECK ONE

Precodes: Very satisfied, Satisfied, Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied,

Dissatisfied, Very dissatisfied, Never use

13. How easy is it to navigate the NOAA Office of Coast Survey website
(nauticalcharts.noaa.gov) to obtain the product you require? CHECK ONE

Precodes: Very easy, Easy, Neither easy nor difficult, Difficult, Very
difficult, No opinion

14. NOAA is currently providing our suite of nautical charts in high-resolution printable PDF format. The PDF nautical charts are exact images of the traditional charts currently printed by lithography. The PDF nautical charts are updated weekly and include all of the latest critical chart corrections. The PDF nautical charts can be downloaded for free from the Coast Survey website (http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/pdfcharts/).

How do you use PDFs of NOAA Nautical Charts? CHECK ALL THAT APPLY

Precodes: Primary source of navigation, Backup source of navigation,
Planning, Non-navigation uses (placemats, art, etc.), GIS

15. How can NOAA improve the PDF nautical charts?

Precodes: Please Write in

16. An overlay is a layer of additional information that is placed over an existing nautical chart. What information would you like to see available as an overlay on the following navigational products? CHECK ALL THAT APPLY

Grid: Apps, ENC, POD, RNC, PDF

Precodes: Mineral and wind farm lease blocks, Tides and Currents,
Historic wind data, Weather, Marine protected areas, Ice,
Coast Pilot information, Fish habitats, Facilities, Custom
information

17a) Do you use British Admiralty charts (produced by United Kingdom Hydrographic
Office) of US waters rather than NOAA charts?

Precodes: Yes, No, Not sure

17b) If Yes at Q.18a): Why do you use them? Write in

18a) Do you use charts or cruising guides of U.S. waters produced by private
manufacturers rather than NOAA products?

Precodes: Yes, No, Not sure

18b) If Yes at Q.19a): Why do you use them? Write in

19a) Do you get your NOAA ENCs from a source other than the NOAA website?

Precodes: Yes, No, Not sure

19b) What is the source and why? WRITE IN

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