Bridge Watchkeeping:

LO1 Regulations for the safe

movement of vessels

Buoyage
Types of Buoy
• Lateral Mark
 Used to denote a channel or the extremities of a channel.
• Cardinal Mark
 Denotes extremities of a hazard.

• Isolated Danger Mark

 Marks a danger of limited horizontal extent.
• Special Mark
 Denotes special areas; recreation, outfalls, channel within a channel
etc.

• Safe Water Mark

 Navigationally significant safe water; TSS, Landfall buoys.

• New Danger Mark

 Used when a new danger or a new wreck is established.
Buoy Shapes
Pillar
Spar Sphere

Can
Cone
Barrel
Direction of Buoyage
• Clockwise round
continents and into
rivers.
• Cans to Port and
cones to starboard.
• There are two
buoyage regions, A
and B
Buoyage Regions
• Region A
• Europe, Africa, Most of Asia, Australia
• Port Buoys are Red, Starboard Buoys are Green

• Region B
• North and South America, Japan, Korea, Philippines
• Port Buoys are Green, Starboard Buoys are Red
• This effects lateral marks and special marks, and for this
reason we deal with the shape of the buoy not the
colour.

• Remember CANS to PORT, CONES to STARBOARD

Port Hand Lateral Marks (A)

• Can Be Spar, Pillar or

Can
• Top Mark is a single,
red can
• Red Light
• Rhythm is any except
2+1
Starboard Hand Lateral Marks (A)

• Can Be Spar, Pillar or

Cone
• Top Mark is a single,
green cone
• Green Light
• Rhythm is any except
2+1
Preferred channel to Starboard (A)

• Same as Port lateral

mark but with green
band
• Top Mark is a single,
red can
• Red Light
• Rhythm is 2+1
Preferred Channel to Port (A)

• Same as STBD lateral

mark but with red
band
• Top Mark is a single,
green cone
• Green Light
• Rhythm is 2+1
Port Hand Lateral Marks (B)

• Can Be Spar, Pillar or

Can
• Top Mark is a single,
green can
• Green Light
• Rhythm is any except
2+1
Starboard Hand Lateral Marks (B)

• Can Be Spar, Pillar or

Cone
• Top Mark is a single,
red cone
• Red Light
• Rhythm is any except
2+1
Preferred channel to Starboard (B)

• Same as Port lateral

mark but with red
band
• Top Mark is a single,
green can
• Green Light
• Rhythm is 2+1
Preferred Channel to Port (B)

• Same as STBD lateral

mark but with green
band
• Top Mark is a single,
red cone
• Red Light
• Rhythm is 2+1
North Cardinal Mark
• Black/Yellow
• Two Cones Apexes
pointing up
• Safe Water lies to the
North of the buoy
• White Light
• Rhythm – continuous
flashing
East Cardinal Mark
• Black/Yellow/Black
• Two Cones bases
together
• Safe Water lies to the
East of the buoy
• White Light
• Rhythm – 3 flashes
• Q 10s, VQ 5s
South Cardinal Mark
• Yellow/Black
• Two Cones Apexes
pointing down
• Safe Water lies to the
South of the buoy
• White Light
• Rhythm – 6 quick + 1
long flash
• Quick in 15s or Very
Quick in 10s
West Cardinal Mark
• Yellow/Black/Yellow
• Two Cones apexes
together
• Safe Water lies to the
West of the buoy
• White Light
• Rhythm – 9 flashes
• Q 15s, VQ 10s
 New Dangers
• Cardinal Marks are
doubled-up for
new dangers.

• Racon (D) is
sometimes fitted
to the buoy.
Isolated Danger Mark
• Black/Red Stripes
• Two black spheres in
a vertical line
• White Light
• Group Flash (2)
• Safe Navigable water
all around
New Danger buoy
A new danger is a newly discovered
hazard to navigation that is not yet
indicated on charts or SD and has not
been sufficiently published in NTM.

These buoys will remain on station until:

• The wreck is well known and has been
promulgated in nautical publications;
• The wreck has been fully surveyed
and exact details such as position and
least depth
above the wreck are known;
• A permanent form of marking of the
wreck has been carried out.
New Danger buoy
Shape
A pillar or spar buoy.
Topmark
The top mark, if fitted, is to be a
standing/upright yellow cross. (St.George
Cross)
Colour
Between 4 and 8 vertical blue and yellow
stripes, these stripes of equal width. The
abbreviation of the colour will be BuY.
Light
An alternating blue and yellow flashing
light with a nominal range of 4 nautical
miles, the blue and yellow 1 second flashes
are alternated with an interval of 0.5
seconds. Bu1.0s+0.5s+Y1.0s+0.5s= 3.0s
Safe Water Marks
• Red and white
vertical stripes.
• Red Sphere
• White Light

• Morse A
• Long Flash every
10s
• Occulting
• Isophase
Special Marks

• Yellow buoy of any shape

• Yellow St. Andrews Cross
• Can and cone shaped
marks to be treated as
lateral marks.
• Yellow Light
• Any Rhythm not used for
a white light
ODAS Buoys
• Ocean Data
ODAS Acquisition System
• Spherical Buoy
• Marked “ODAS”
• No Topmark
• Yellow Light
• 5 flashes every 20
seconds
 ATLAS BUOY
ATLAS –Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition
System
The ATLAS buoy system was developed under modest
auspices in the early 1980s to measure upper ocean
heat content and surface meteorological parameters
in support of air-sea interaction studies in the eastern
equatorial Pacific.
Daily mean observations from the ATLAS buoys are
received in near real time via both the Argos System
and Brazilian satellites. The data is processed by the
TAO Project Office of NOAA (National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, USA.) and also placed on
the Global Telecommunications System for real time
distribution to weather centers and other users. High
frequency measurements are stored on the buoys and
retrieved during maintenance operations.
 ATLAS buoy standard suite includes surface winds, air
and sea surface temperature, relative humidity, 10 sub-
surface temperatures to 500 m, and water pressure at
2 depths.
• Wind direction and speed: Sampled at
2Hz for 6 min centered at the top of the hour
and vector averaged. Anemometer height is 4
m.
• Solar radiation
• Pressure, temperature and conductivity
to 500 m below sea level.
• Rainfall,
• Humidity,
• Air temperature: sampled every 10 min at
3m with resolution of 0.04°C and accuracy
better than 0.5°C; averaged at the top of each
hour.
• Sea temperature : Surface and sub-surface
measured to a resolution of 0.002°C and
accuracy better than 0.1°C at 1 m and at 10
depths from 20 m to 500 m are mounted on a
polyurethane-jacketed double-armor three
conductor cable.
• Water pressure: At 2 depths between the
surface and 500 meters to monitor vertical
excursions of the cable.
Atlas buoy
Retro-reflective Tape
• Buoys are fitted with
retro-reflective tape
to aid identification.

Lateral Marks North Cardinal Special Mark

Preferred Channel
Regions A & B East Cardinal
Isolated Danger Mark
South Cardinal

West Cardinal Safe Water Mark

Questions
• What is the use of IALA buoy system A
and B, and where are they in effect?
• Describe the cardinal marks.
• Describe New Danger buoy.
• Describe Preferred Channel to Port buoy in
IALA-A system.