SAILING COURSE (02-demo)


Sailing Course / Module 6 / Navigation - The IALA Maritime Buoyage System

Introduction

Driving on land is generally completed on established roadways marked with internationally recognised markings, such as stop signs and traffic lights. But how do we know where to drive at sea and which side of the “road” should we drive on?


When coming into port vessels need to know how to avoid collisions, understand where the safe water is to navigate, and also where any hazards are. To achieve this, aids to navigation are employed, these may be: buoys, lighthouses, light ships or other fixed or floating devices… but are these the same internationally?

The answer is very much like the answer for that on land… in some parts of the world cars drive on the left side of the road while in other parts they drive on the right. At sea it’s established what SIDE of the “road” to drive on, however in some parts of the world the road markings are reversed and on the opposite side of the “road”.


To backtrack a little... in 1889 the beginning of a uniform system of buoyage emerged, when certain countries agreed to mark the port hand side of channels with black can buoys and the starboard hand with red conical buoys.


Unfortunately, with the introduction of lights on buoys, some European countries placed red lights on the black port hand buoys to conform with the red lights marking the port hand side of harbour entrances, whilst throughout North America red lights were placed on the red starboard hand buoys.


Following the end of World War II in 1945, buoyage systems were re-established in NW Europe, based on the system devised by the 1936 Geneva Convention, that had the principle that red buoys should be used on the port hand and black buoys on the starboard hand. However, wide differences in interpretation of that system resulted in nine different systems coming into use in those waters.


In 1971 in the Dover strait two consecutive fatal accidents occurred, with the loss of 51 lives in total. Firstly, the merchant ship “Brandenburg” struck the wreckage of the “Texaco Caribbean” and sank, though the wreckage was appropriately marked. A few weeks later the wreckage, despite being marked by a wreck-marking vessel and many buoys, was struck by the “Niki”, which also sank. It was these disasters, which gave rise to the development and implementation of the IALA Maritime Buoyage System.


IALA (the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities) is a non-profit, international technical association established in an effort to harmonise Marine Aids to Navigation worldwide. This harmonisation aims to ensure that the movements of vessels are safe, expeditious and cost-effective while protecting the environment.


The IALA Aids to Navigation is broken into two components: The Maritime Buoyage System; and, other aids to navigation comprised of both fixed and floating devices. This is primarily a physical system, however all of the marks may be complemented by electronic aids.


There are six types of marks in the Maritime Buoyage System, which may be used alone or in combination. These marks are:

  • Lateral Marks
  • Cardinal Marks
  • Isolated Danger Mark
  • Safe Water Mark
  • Special Marks; and,
  • New Danger Mark



The marks can be distinguished by their identifiable characteristics. IALA Buoyage worldwide is divided into two regions, A and B. Lateral marks differ between Buoyage Regions A and B. as described below, whereas the other five types of marks are common to both regions


SUMMARY

In this module you can expect to:.

  • learn the two IALA Buoyage Regions A & B;
  • learn and identify the 6 different types of marks in the Maritime Buoyage System; and,
  • understand the basic rules that apply to the Maritime Buoyage System.