The creation of the Mercator chart has been a milestone in nautical cartography, namely the composition and production of charts aiding mariners to safely navigate their vessels. The development and propagation of digital systems in the last decades of the 20th century, was instrumental for the collection and processing of data pertaining to the coastal and maritime environment as well as to nautical cartography. In the 1980s, utilizing the capabilities that technology could provide, the hydrographic community turned to the creation of Electronic Charts, initially in raster and subsequently in vector format. Soon, the electronic chart became a key tool for mariners and, in the end, part of a vessel’s carriage requirements. In particular, and pursuant to the SOLAS Convention (Safety Of Life At Sea), the use of ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems) is an obligation for vessels, depending to their size and the year they were built (UN, 1974; IMO, 2000). ECDISs are integrated information systems using as cartographic background the electronic navigational charts produced by the official hydrographic organizations on the basis of international specifications, and are interconnected with other systems aboard the vessel to assist navigation. This paper presents the capabilities of electronic charts and ECDIS as interactive and dynamic mapping systems, which allow the user to perform a number of tasks for the vessel’s navigation, to modify the chart settings, to change the cartographic representation and the type/number of appearing information as well as the feedback he receives throughout the voyage.