Background
The River Crouch is on the East coast of UK and is a river that ows entirely through the English county of Essex. The distance of the Navigation between Holliwell Point which is north of Foulness Island and Battlesbridge is 15.21 Nautical Miles.
It is regularly used by commercial vessels drawing up to 6m and the principal navigation buoys have been installed mainly for the benefit of these vessels. Distances between buoys are considerable and the low lying shoreline means it is essential to maintain an accurate plot of the position and heading of the vessel at all times.
The Crouch Harbour Authority has carried out major improvements to the buoyage of approach channels from Whitaker Spit inwards to Burnham Fairway. In order to achieve this some 26 new navigation buoys have been purchased, with four existing buoys being reused.
Under this buoyage improvements project, 26 reliable beacons are needed to maintain and ensure the channel’s safe navigation.
Solutions
Our channel partner Hydrosphere worked closely with the Crouch Harbour Authority and proposed to use Vega VLB‐ 67 Short Range LED Marine Beacons. The VLB‐67 beacon forms part of the Vega LED marine beacon family and is designed for applications required a 2 to 5NM range at 0.74T.
Outcomes
There are 26 new buoys fitted with 26 x VLB‐67 Standard Self Contained lights, 12 of these are on lateral buoys and are equipped with GPS to enable synchronization, 8 of these are on cardinal buoys, 4 of these are special lights, and 2 are safe water lights.
Self-contained Lanterns, Standalone Lanterns