The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has been charting the world’s oceans and coastlines for over 200 years.
 
Our primary activity, as a Government Trading Fund and part of the Ministry of Defence, is the provision of navigational products and services to the Royal Navy and merchant marine in compliance with Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) regulations.

The UKHO is the power behind the world-renowned Admiralty brand of products and services. The Admiralty portfolio includes 3,300 Standard Navigational Charts and 220 Navigational Publications. There are also a growing range of digital products and services.

The Admiralty brand provides specialised products and services across four areas: Marine, Defence, Leisure and Hydrographic Expertise.

The UKHO's product portfolio offers worldwide coverage in the form of Standard Navigational Charts and Navigational Publications. In addition to these more 'traditional' products, the UKHO also offers maritime consultancy services, produces a range of electronic charts and provides a popular range of Leisure Charts and Editions, produced specifically for the small craft and leisure mariner.

The UKHO has developed a range of digital products and services, providing an extensive portfolio of electronic chart services. Official electronic charts currently take two forms: RNCs (Raster Navigational Charts) and ENCs (Electronic Navigational charts). The Admiralty ECDIS Service (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) provides a combined portfolio of ENCs and ARCs. Other digital products include TotalTide - a Tidal Prediction Program exclusively designed for SOLAS shipping and the Digital List of Lights – an electronic version of one of our most popular publications.

Based in Taunton in the South West of England, the UKHO employs nearly 1,000 people across a range of specialisms including chart compilation and production, navigational textual editing and publishing, physical oceanography, geodesy and law of the sea as well as finance, marketing, human resources and information technology.