National and local fairway authorities have the obligation to inform users about issues regarding the waterway that might influence safety and accessibility. Notices to Skippers communicate for example the status of the inland waterway infrastructure (i.e. bridges and locks), failures of aids to navigation, temporarily blockages of waterway sections or other types of infrastructure, works, water level and water depth information ice information and weather messages. The international standard for Notices to Skippers provides a standardized data format, which can be used both for publishing Notices on the internet (pull-services) or for distribution by e-mail (push services).
The Expert Group Notices to Skippers Expert (NtS) is an international platform that ensures a harmonized development of the Notices to Skippers standard in the different international organisations. The NtS Expert Group adapts periodically the standard to technical developments and users requirements. The Expert Group submit proposals to the European Commission, the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, the Danube Commission, the Mosel Commission, the Sava Commission, the UN/ECE and other interested international organisations for formalisation.
Moreover, the NtS Expert Group supports, advises and gives input to the European RIS platform and the CCNR working group regarding a harmonized implementation of Notices to Skippers when requested and on its own initiative.
The standard of Notices to Skippers:
Click on the link here below to download the last version of the NtS standards
Click on the link Public NtS documents to find more downloadable NtS documents