INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIGHTHOUSE AUTHORITIES Maritime Buoyage System A A COMBINED CARDINAL AND LATERAL SYSTEM, RED TO PORT To be introduced in North West European and many other waters by stages, starting April 1977 FROM APRIL NEXT YEAR work will begin on the introduction around our coasts of a new buoyage system, Maritime Buoyage System A (MBS A), which will not only have all the merits of logic and simplicity but also the advantage of general acceptance. It is being adopted throughout North West Europe, so that within a few years, in this area, there will be just one common buoyage system where up to now there have been no less than seven. Many other nations, including those around the Mediterranean and some African maritime states, will also be adopting MBS A. If not universal, it will indeed be truly international.

It is not perhaps surprising that in the years of developing sea trade different ways of marking navigable channels and off-lying dangers should have grown up. The marks were there for the benefit of the coastal shipping of their own country. But now the world has grown closer; power and speed have made distances relatively shorter; the time has come, and the climate of opinion is right, for international agreement on a common policy.

At the request of the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) tackled the problem of rationalisation.

After much discussion between lighthouse and hydrographic authorities of many nations, IALA presented its new schemes MBS A and MBS B (for nations such as America which do not wish to conform to the lateral marks of MBS A) to IMCO which, on March 24 this year, gave the schemes its approval.

Our own three lighthouse authorities, Trinity House, the Northern Lighthouse Board (Scotland and the Isle of Man) and the Commissioners of Irish Lights, have all been deeply concerned in this operation; the Chairman and Secretary of the IALA buoyage technical committee are both members of Trinity House, Captain J. E. Bury, a member of the Board, and N. F. Matthews, Chief of Administration, respectively.

Perhaps, before talking about the new system itself, it would be as well to look at the proposed timing of its introduction round these islands, shown in a diagram on this page. Stage 1 will be undertaken in 1977, starting in April; stage 2 in 1978; stage 3 in 1979; stage 4 in 1980; and stage 5, the greater part of the Baltic, not shown in the diagram, 1981. It is a massive undertaking. For Trinity House 260 buoys will be involved in stage 1 alone. Not only will it mean some alteration to every established buoy except for solid red port hand buoys with red lights, but the whole operation can only be done in conjunction with the publication of new charts prepared by the Hydrographer to the Navy.

Maritime Buoyage System A is a combined cardinal and lateral system (red to port) and provides five different types of mark: lateral, cardinal, isolated danger, safe water and special marks, all of which are illustrated on the back cover of this journal.

These marks will be used in conjunction with a conventional direction of buoyage which in rivers and estuaries will continue to be from seaward inwards, but at sea will in general follow a clockwise direction around continental land masses. These directions will be shown on charts, and a careful watch MALIN HEAD TO RMINNS OF ISLAY BRITISH Si" ISLES OLD HEAD Of KINJALI TO LAT. 47*5O'N LOHS. OS' 30'W 30° :s( IALA Maritime Buoyage System A implementation target 1977- 1980. Stage 1, starting next April, will be bounded to the west by longitude 0°, the Greenwich Meridian, to the south by latitude 50° 20' N and to the north by latitude 52°10'N; it will take in the Straits of Dover and the Thames Estuary.

should be kept, when the time comes, for changes from the traditional direction of buoyage. A diagram showing the new conventional direction of buoyage which will apply round these islands is also given on the back cover of this journal.

It is important to note that on the east coast, north of Orfordness, buoys will be laid out in a completely opposite direction from at present; they are laid out now from north to south, in the main stream of the flood tide; in future they will be laid out south to north, in accordance with the new clockwise round-Europe buoyage direction.

But to return to the marks themselves.

Their good sense is something which soon becomes apparent. The number of variables is reduced, and the new marks have features built into their design which are in themselves aids to memory.

The topmark of each is clear, individual and will be very easy to see; those at sea will be 3 feet across and those in estuaries 2 feet. Starboard hand lateral marks will be green (except possibly where a channel runs so close to land that green buoys would be lost against turf or meadowland, when black would be retained). Day and night presentation will be the same, red buoys having red lights, green buoys green lights, yellow buoys yellow lights, and the three types of mark which will have white lights (cardinal, safe water and isolated danger marks) each having their own distinctive rhythms.

Lateral marks: Used in conjunction with a conventional direction of buoyage, generally for well defined channels. These marks indicate the port and starboard sides of the route to be followed: Port hand: Colour red Shape (buoys) can or spar Topmark (if any) single red can Light (when fitted) colour, red: rhythm, any Starboard hand: Colour green Shape (buoys) conical or spar Topmark (if any) single green cone, point up Light (when fitted) colour, green: rhythm, any If marks at the sides of a channel are numbered or lettered, the numbering or lettering will follow the conventional direction of buoyage.

Cardinal marks: The four quadrants (north, east, south and west) are bounded by the true bearings NW-NE, NE-SE, SE-SW, SW-NW taken from the point of interest, or danger. A cardinalmarks is named after the quadrant in which it is placed and indicates that it should be passed to the named side of the mark. It may be used, for example, to indicate that the deepest water in that area is on the named side of the mark, or to indicate the safe side on which to pass a danger (such as rocks, or a sandbank or wreck); it may also be used to draw attention to a feature in a channel such as a bend or a junction, a bifurcation or the end of a shoal: North cardinal mark: Topmark 2 black cones, one above the other, points upward Colour black above yellow Shape pillar or spar Light (when fitted) colour, white: rhythm, very quick flashing (VQF) or quick flashing (QF) East cardinal mark: Topmark 2 black cones, one above the other, base to base Colour black with a single broad horizontal yellow band Shape pillar or spar Light (when fitted) colour, white: rhythm, VQF (3) or QF (3) South cardinal mark: Topmark 2 black cones, one above the other, points downward Colour yellow above black Shape pillar or spar Light (when fitted) colour, white: rhythm, VQF (6) + long flash or QF (6) + long flash West cardinal mark: Topmark 2 black cones, one above the olher, point to point Colour yellow with a single broad horizontal black band Shape pillar or spar Light (when fitted) colour, white: rhythm, VQF (9) or OF (9) It will be seen that the rhythm of cardinal mark lights follows the pattern of a clock face: north, 12 o'clock, continuous flashing; east, 3 o'clock, three flashes; south, 6 o'clock, six flashes (with a long flash to make quite sure it is not miscounted and mistaken for east or west); west, 9 o'clock, nine flashes.

Isolated danger marks: Erected on, or moored on or above, an isolated danger which has navigable water all around it.

Topmark 2 black spheres, one above the other Colour black with one or more broad horizontal red bands Shape pillar or spar Light (when fitted) colour, white: rhythm, group flashing (2) Safe water marks: Indicating that there is navigable water all round the mark;these include centre line marks and midchannel marks. Such a mark may also be used as an alternative to a cardinal or lateral mark to indicate a landfall.

Topmark (if any) single red sphere Colour red and white vertical stripes Shape spherical, pillar with spherical topmark or spar Light (when fitted) colour, white: rhythm, isophase, occulting or one long flash every 10 seconds Special marks: Indicate a special area or feature, such as spoil ground, or a cable or pipe line. When a navigator sees a special mark, in fact, it tells him that he must look for further information on his chart or in other nautical documents.

Topmark (if any) single yellow X shape Colour yellow Shape optional but not conflicting with navigational marks Light (when fitted) colour, yellow: rhythm, any, other than those described for cardinal, isolated danger or safe water marks.

Wherever possible, the shape of yellow buoy chosen would be in character with its position. For instance, a yellow can would be chosen for a port hand mark, conical yellow buoy for a starboard hand mark.

New dangers: Newly discovered hazards not yet indicated in nautical documents: naturally occuring obstructions such as sandbanks or rocks, or man-made dangers such as wrecks. New dangers will be marked in accordance with the general rules, using in the main cardinal marks, although others would be used where appropriate. If a danger is particularly grave, at least one of the marks will be duplicated: the duplicate mark would be identical to its partner.

This article is only intended as an introduction to Maritime Buoyage System A, and should only be taken as that. Fuller information will, of course, be promulgated through the normal navigational publications. MBS A will be the central feature of Trinity House's stand at next year's Boat Show at Earls Court, so from January 6-16 there will be an ideal opportunity of obtaining explanations at first hand..