#FinnishBuoys – Finnish state-owned company Meritaito Ltd, originally Finnish Maritime Administration are joining forces with Commissioners of Irish Lights on testing of 'spar' buoys normally used in Baltic Sea ice-flows and not the Irish Sea, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Meritaito which specialises in the maintenance and development of waterways and marine infrastructure are to carry out performance and survivability tests on spar buoys as part of the Dublin Bay Digital Diamond (see interactive map) from new-look CIL website.

Finland has to contend and experience icy waterway conditions and so they have developed the Spar buoys which are of a slimmer 'tube' structure design. This design has enabled easier conditions better suited for dealing with ice-flows.

Despite the particular suitability of design, they can suffer from conspicuity problems when compared to their Irish counterparts in the use of conventional buoys.

CIL's aids to navigation tender ILV Granuaile, based at her homeport HQ in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, is scheduled to deploy the spar buoys later this late summer.

The two spar buoys, one cardinal, the other lateral, are to be deployed in close proximity to the Bennet Bank off the eastern fringes of Dublin Bay and the West Blackwater buoy which is on the Irish Sea.