1. NCWG2-11.2B US Response (Fathoms and Compass Terms)
2nd Meeting of the Nautical Cartography Working Group
26-29 April Monaco
NCWG2-11.2B US Response (Fathoms and Compass Terms)

2. Introduction
It’s good to clean out unnecessary "place holder" rows in INT1, but …
in some cases it would be better to retain the empty row or to "fill in the held place."

3. Analysis / Discussion Some “vacant” INT1 rows are worth keeping
Row can still be an important placeholder where many nations show their own term or symbol in the "nationally used representation" column
For some important items, such as depth units and magnetic compass terms, this is preferable to "burying" the terms at the end of a section where the lettered entry might be missed

4. B48 Fathoms Fathoms and feet still used to portray depths
3.4 million square nautical miles
Over 1,000 US nautical charts
Also on some BA charts
Section B already has an entry for "feet“
Makes sense to also show entry for fathoms nearby
“fm" and "fms" could readily be adopted as the international abbreviation for fathom and fathoms

5. B60-67 Magnetic Compass Terms
No INT abbreviation, but are important terms used on nearly every nautical chart
English translation that is shown in INT1s and many chart 1 documents provides common reference
Having a prominent, easy to find location to see all the compass terms in one place is useful

6. B60-67 Magnetic Compass Terms
Looking up individual terms in an index or hoping they appear in supplementary national symbols at the end of the section adds unnecessary complexity
If these rows are deleted, will there be entry for these terms in INT1 at all
Ability to see the English term that is used as a common reference language will be lost

7. Conclusions / Recommendations
“Vacant” rows have lived quietly in INT1 and chart 1 documents for decades
Good reasons to delete some, but not all
Fathoms and magnetic compass terms rows should be retained
Recommendations
1. Retain the INT1 entry for fathoms at B48,
2. Adopt "fm" as the international abbreviation for fathoms,
3. Retain the INT1 entries for mag compass terms at B60-67