Both have been equipped with Tideland's TRB-220 rotating beacons powered by solar arrays and, in the case of Sombreiro, this is mounted on Tideland's GRP tower.

The other installations include a solar-powered ML-300 used as a front range lantern in the old fort at the entrance to the Benguela River. There are two further ML-300s at San Jose and Icreta, both solar-powered.

Tideland's ML-300 lantern is a lightweight, corrosionresistant design featuring a one-piece acrylic Fresnel lens capable of achieving up to 19,800 candela and a range of 18 nautical miles. It is equipped with Tideland's TF-3B MicroPower Omnibus II flasher/lampchanger equipment, which incorporates a timer circuit providing 256 user selectable flash codes and input voltages up to 36VDC.

The TRB-220 is a mediumrange rotating beacon specially designed for lighthouse conversions and producing a high intensity beam with a range in excess of 20 nautical miles. It features ultra-efficient optics, a sealed upper housing which eliminates the need for cooling fans or venting, and an advanced gearless direct drive turntable. Both the drive system and theTRB-220's lampchanger units include built-in facilities for remote monitoring, either by radio, satellite or telephone, using the Tideland NavLink system. The whole unit weighs only 16 kg (36 lbs) and measures 889 mm (34 inches) in height.

It is designed to operate at temperatures ranging from -40 C to +55 C and in humidity up to 100%.

The main deepwater port of Benguela Province is Lobito, at the terminus of the Benguela railway, which serves the copper mines of Zambia and south western areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo. There is no sheltered harbour at Benguela itself, but the range lanterns on the church of Nossa Senhora do Popolo and in the nearby fort guide smaller vessels to an area where it is safe to anchor.

Sussex UK-based Tideland Signal Limited is approved to ISO 9001:2000 and specialises in aids to navigation.

MJInformation No: 22233