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Bringing It Home In Sierra Leone
01 Jul 2004
Sussex UK based navaids specialist Tideland Signal has supplied over 30 buoys and solar powered lanterns to guide shipping into the estuary of the Sierra Leone River and the port of Freetown, the country's capital.
The Sierra Leone estuary, formed by the Port Loko River and the Rokel River, is 25 miles long and between four and six miles wide, making the Bay of Freetown one of the largest natural harbours in the world. The port of Freetown is located upriver from a point where the estuary narrows, producing a particularly strong tidal scour of six knots which keeps the deepwater channel free of silt build-up.
The approaches to Freetown will be marked by one Tideland SB-285P fairway buoy and ten SB-285P major channel buoys.
The SB-285P fairway buoys are equipped with Tideland ML-155 lanterns, 50W solar arrays, batteries and moorings, while the major channel buoys carry the smaller MLED-120 LED lanterns powered by 20W solar systems.
The fairway buoy is also equipped with Tideland's latest racon, the long range, energy efficient SeaBeacon 2 System 6.
In addition, Tideland Signal has also supplied ten Tideland SB-98P and two SB-138P channel buoys to mark the Sherbro estuary.
The two SB-138P channel buoys also carry Tideland's MLED-120 LED lanterns but, in this case, they are powered by 10W solar arrays. The smaller SB-98P buoys are particularly suited for marking shallow waters, including rivers and estuaries. They carry the self contained version of Tideland's LED lantern, the MLED-120SC, which incorporates its own 5W solar panels and 12v, 38 AH maintenance free battery.
Under the contract, which also includes commissioning, maintenance and training, Tideland, in conjunction with Dubai based Safe Sea Services Ltd, provided a one month intensive training course for two engineers.
The training took place in Dubai and included both theory and hands-on training. The theory side of the training programme covered the latest techniques in AtoN equipment, whilst the hands-on training included on-site buoy maintenance and repairs.
All the buoys are rotationally moulded in UV-stabilised polyethylene with the float section filled with expanded polystyrene. Ballast is internally located and mooring/lifting eyes are moulded into the buoy body to ensure a smooth, easily maintained external profile.
There are no external corrodible parts. The buoys are corrosion resistant, never need painting and are unsinkable.
Tideland also won a contract to supply tower-mounted beacons to mark the entrance to Tema harbour near Accra on the coast of Ghana.
There are six in total, two of 15m and four of 6m. The 15m towers are installed in the Tema main harbour and the 6m towers in the smaller fishing harbour
MJ Information No: 19601
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