The U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center (NAVCEN) has expanded the availability of near-real-time maritime safety information to include all U.S. waterways in order to provide mariners with timely updates and warnings regarding a variety of navigational hazards.
Through a free web-based subscription management system called GovDelivery, mariners are now able to select topics of interest and subscribe to receive Broadcast Notice to Mariners (BNM) messages via email or RSS feed for their chosen geographical region.
The online subscription service is offered in addition to the standard very high frequency (VHF) BNM broadcasts—which was traditionally the only way for mariners to receive vital navigational information.
Mariners who subscribe to this service will now have the opportunity to receive updates and warnings about navigational hazards in near-real-time without having to wait for scheduled VHF broadcasts to be issued.
In addition to receiving the alerts via email or RSS feed, BNM messages are also available to view on NAVCEN’s website.
To subscribe to receive BNM messages from the U.S. Coast Guard, please visit the following link to enter your email address and fill out your subscriber preferences: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCG/subscriber/new.