The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLA) have announced a review of the Aids to Navigation (AtoN) provision around the coasts of Ireland and Great Britain.

Trinity House will publish the results of the review in 2025, the outcomes of which will inform the GLAs’ work plans for the following five-year period.

The GLA provide a comprehensive and sustainable network of AtoN for General Navigation and are responsible for the Superintendence and Management of Local AtoN provided by Local Lighthouse Authorities.

The GLA has said that they consider user input to be an essential part of this review. Users of AtoN are encouraged to contribute to the review by commenting on:

• The usefulness and usability of existing AtoN provided by the GLAs.
• Any proposed requirement for the provision of new AtoN.
• The mix of AtoN provided including lighthouses, buoys, beacons, Racons and AIS AtoN.
• The benefit to users of providing additional data from AtoN such as meteorological data.
• The effectiveness of systems used to promulgate information relating to AtoN.
• Any other AtoN related issues.

You can find the full details of how to respond to the Aids to Navigation Review on the Trinity House website. The closing date for responses is Friday 31 May.

#NavigationEvent - The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) of the UK and Ireland will hold an event on 2 March to explore the mix of technologies for future maritime navigation in 2030 and beyond, and identify potential complements to GNSS.

• The event will present ways to maintain safety of navigation in increasingly confined and congested shipping areas, supporting economic growth and protection of the marine environment

• It will explore technologies that could complement Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) for robust cost-effective navigation of ships in the future

• The event is held jointly with the Knowledge Transfer Network and the Royal Institute of Navigation

Whilst GNSS is likely to remain the most accessible and accurate primary source of navigation data, it is not infallible, and can be prone to interference. Navigable sea space is set to shrink, with more traffic and growing obstacles like wind farms and marine conservation areas.

Combined with a rise in GNSS jamming incidents, it is clear that the need for complementary technologies to provide robust and reliable navigation data is higher than ever.

Taking place at Trinity House Headquarters at Tower Hill London, the ‘Innovation in Maritime Navigation’ event will consider the potential and practicality of candidate technologies to complement GNSS, and counter threats to maritime safety, including:

• Beacon R-Mode: incorporating a ranging capability on existing DGPS beacon (or AIS) transmissions

• Quantum navigation: using next-generation quantum sensors to drastically improve inertial navigation, when GNSS signals are unavailable

• Signals of opportunity: using existing signals such as mobile, Wi-Fi, TV, and radio signals, to work out the user’s location

• Integrated Navigation Systems supporting ECDIS: multi-system receivers and sensor integration, possibly with innovative water reference systems, to provide position

The event will look at how these technologies, and others, may contribute to a future ship/shore resilient Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solution. It will also cover the perspectives of user requirements, research, technology readiness level, commercial exploitation, ship equipage, shore based infrastructure, regulatory action; factors that are important in assessing the future direction of maritime solutions.

Presenters include mariners, ship operators, navigation specialists and technology providers and delegates will have the opportunity to network and participate in a Q&A and panel discussion chaired by RAdm Nick Lambert, former UK National Hydrographer.

The event is free to attend but delegates must register in advance.

#cil –The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) of the UK and Ireland have announced a £13M seven-year contract to PDG Helicopters for the provision of helicopter services to cover all three Authorities according to the PDG website here.

The provision of one helicopter supplier across the GLAs will deliver significant cost savings of around £7.9M to the General Lighthouse Fund, which pays for the safety critical work of the GLAs to provide a reliable, efficient and cost-effective Maritime Aids to Navigation service around the coast of UK and Ireland.

Until now each Authority has contracted its own helicopter service provider and co-ordinated its own activities. The decision to award a single tri-GLA contract for helicopter services is a first for the participating Authorities, who established a cross-GLA project team to manage the procurement process.

Helicopters have been contracted by the GLAs since the 1970's for the transportation of personnel to remote and difficult-to-access sites and for specialised operations to transport materials to and from their support vessels and lighthouses.

PDG Helicopters is one of the UK and Ireland's leading helicopter providers. PDG operates an extensive fleet of modern aircraft and will deploy two Eurocopter EC 135 aircraft to fulfill the contract requirements. Headquartered in Scotland PDG has operating bases across the United Kingdom and Ireland from which it flies over 11,000 hours a year supporting a wide range of onshore and offshore markets. The new seven year contract, with an extension option for up to a further three years, will commence in December 2015 allowing existing contracts to complete and for a period of training and familiarisation.

The projected flying hours across the GLAs will be around 1,000 per annum - the number of flying hours has reduced over recent years - in part achieved through the improved engineering of remote lights giving greater reliability and reduced maintenance burden created by the ongoing work to introduce solar power and LED lights but also through more effective and collaborative planning across the GLAs.

Deployment of the helicopter will be co-ordinated by the three lighthouse authorities, working in collaboration. The GLAs will consult on PDG Helicopters work plans and align the helicopter services in the most efficient and effective manner to meet their operational requirements. However, by the very nature of the safety critical work of the GLAs, an agreed contingency procedure will be put in place to allow the Authorities to deal with any immediate or short-notice high priority tasking.

Captain Ian McNaught, Deputy Master of Trinity House said "This single contract demonstrates the GLAs willingness to adapt and change working practices collaboratively in order to develop best practice and reduce operating costs. It makes a positive contribution to the achievement of real cost reduction whilst continuing to deliver the essential network of aids to navigation the GLAs provide to the maritime community in the UK and Ireland. A potential saving of £7.9M is something the GLAs are extremely pleased to report to its stakeholders."

Mike Bullock, Chief Executive of the Northern Lighthouse Board said "Helicopters provide an essential capability for the GLAs as they allow both personnel and material to be delivered to difficult to access sites in remote and often hostile environments. With safety considerations at the forefront of the procurement process, we have looked very closely at the type and capability of helicopter to ensure we provide a reliable and safe means of access to and from our sites."

Yvonne Shields, Chief Executive of the Commissioners of Irish Lights said "We are pleased to be working with PDG Helicopters. Over recent years the EC 135 has already proved its capabilities by carrying out operations for two of the GLAs under separate contracts and PDG Helicopters, through its subsidiary Irish Helicopters, has successfully worked with the Commissioners of Irish Lights since the 1970's so we are aware of the service they provide and we look forward to continue working with them under the new contract."

At the contract signing Jerry Francis, Chief Executive of PDG Helicopters said "We are delighted to be awarded the GLA Helicopter Service Contract and are proud to be supporting them in the delivery of their statutory duty for the safety of the mariner. In working closely with clients to deliver a truly bespoke helicopter service and by responding quickly to our clients needs we continue to build on our reputation and commitment to safety. The award of this contract is a natural progression from working exclusively with the Commissioners of Irish Lights and we look forward to extending this vital service across the entire United Kingdom and Ireland."

Sailing was not the only activity that took place in Dublin Bay last Saturday as the Northern Lighthouse Board's (NLB) multi-function tender NLV Pharos was busy at work, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The NLB is the Scottish equivalent of the Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL) and it is not unusual for such vessels to share work duties beyond their respective jurisdictions. The 84m NLV Pharos is equipped with dynamic positioning and a 30-tonne main crane on her 300m2 aft-deck.

Overall she is similar in appearance to Irish lights ILV Granuaile which is based out of Dun Laoghaire. The Irish Lights tender built in Romania in 2000 tends to operate more often off the west coast during the summer months due to the more favourable weather conditions.

The 1,300 (dwt) deadweight tonnes NLV Pharos yesterday returned to her base in Oban from her Irish duties. The west coast base was established in 1904 and is also homeport to the service's smaller NLV Pole Star which is equipped with an 18-tonne crane on her 90m2 aft deck.

The facility in 2000 underwent a £4.2 million redevelopment to turn a buoy yard into a multi functional support base which is computer-linked to the NLB headquarters in Edinburgh.

In addition Trinity House which maintains the service for England and Wales operate the tenders THV Galtea,THV Patricia and the fast-response craft THV Alert from their base in Harwich.

Trinity House forms the trio of the General Lighthouse Authorities (GLA) alongside NLB and CIL. Each member of the GLA co-operate in the allocation of vessel-tender deployment.

Asides the varied and critical role of the tasks performed by the GLA's tenders, they are also available for charter to third parties. Between them the tenders can conduct buoy and chain work, search and rescue, lighthouse re-fuelling, salvage and recovery, towing, hydrographic applications and ROV work.

The total cost of providing these services comes to around £75m ($116.5m) a year, of which Irish Lights accounts for €32m. The UK subsidy to Ireland is between £10m and £12m, with the Irish government contributing some £6m and the balance coming from fees.

All three general lighthouse authorities (GLA) are working on ways to cut costs and improve efficiencies, with a joint strategic board set up to consider how they can work together more effectively.