The folder was installed in June, three months after the first, and was supplied by Friedheim International. The PageWides have been beta-tested by the UKHO since early 2016.

The UKHO provides charts and other nautical publications to the Royal Navy, merchant shipping and individual mariners, with the aim of protecting lives at sea. 

UKHO supply operations manager Tom Scott-Clarke said: “We are quite unique in the way we print wide-format charts and finish them to a very bespoke size, with numerous variations.

"We commissioned MBO to build the machines, the second of which is capable of doing multiple fold types to allow us to print our entire range to order, and they were bolted together and installed in a couple of days."

The purchase has been made as the UKHO continues to cut back on its print production as well as headcount in its print division. The department now produces just 14 chart sizes compared to more than 100 in the past and batch sizes have been slimmed to approximately 20 to account for shorter-run orders.

“As an organisation, we are facing a decline in printed journals and an increase in digital projects. This investment we have made should hopefully see us through for now. We have no plans to invest in the next five to 10 years,” added Scott-Clarke.

The UKHO has now made the full switch from litho to digital, having recently parted with its two litho presses, one Manroland and one Mitsubishi, both of which ran for around 15 years.

Scott-Clarke said: “Before we had to print litho then fold through different kit. We have about 3,500 standard charts and litho printing doesn’t really fit our model anymore.

"With digital you get a lot less production scrap. Our old lithos would waste sheets just getting the colour right so we have made big savings in that respect.”