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Trinity House's New Emergency Wreck Marking Buoys on Station
01 Dec 2006
Trinity House has chosen Tideland Signal’s SB-98P polyethylene buoy and MLED-120SC lantern for use as its emergency wreck marking buoy in accordance with the new IALA Recommendation O-133 of December 2005.
The new IALA recommendation was promulgated following the loss of the Tricolor in the Dover Straits in 2002 when two other ships ploughed into the wreck and there were numerous other near misses. It clarifies the need for responsible authorities to respond rapidly and mark new dangers adequately and quickly in order to avoid further collisions. It also highlights shortcomings in the previous arrangements for marking wrecks and defines a new standard for wreck marking buoys.
Eight complete buoy/lantern assemblies have been supplied to Trinity House plus two spare light clusters. They are all finished in yellow and blue vertical stripes as specified in the IALA recommendation and the lantern shows an alternating yellow and blue light, flashing for one second, with an interval of half a second.
In the event of the wreck, the buoy are placed as close as possible at the four cardinal points and will continue to show a light for at least 48 hours, after which it is intended that the danger can, if necessary, be permanently marked by the usual arrangement of four cardinal buoys, with the emergency buoys remaining on station until the wreck is fully published and widely known.
Tideland’s SD-98P was previously selected by Trinity House to replace its Class 5 and 4 steel buoys. In this application it is fitted with Tideland’s self-powered MLED-120SC lantern system with an effective range of 4NM in all colours – red, green, white and yellow.
The SB-98P is a multi-purpose buoy, featuring rugged, lightweight construction, which is virtually maintenance free. An innovative mould and fill manufacturing process prevents significant ingress of water in the event of a puncture, making the buoy unsinkable and highly resistant to corrosion or marine growth.
The Tideland MLED-120SC combines LED technology with two or four solar modules and sealed lead acid batteries in a unitised polyethylene housing. Each DA-65 diode array provides an even 360o light source.
MJ Information No: 22520
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