Visual Aid to Navigation Guide - Region B - Day

A lateral

buoy A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...

, lateral post or lateral mark, as defined by the

International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities The International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation (IALA), previously known as International Association of Lighthouse Authorities, is an association founded in 1957 to collect and provide nautical expertise and advice. IALA is also kn ...

, is a

sea mark A sea mark, also seamark and navigation mark, is a form of aid to navigation and pilotage that identifies the approximate position of a maritime channel, hazard, or administrative area to allow boats, ships, and seaplanes to navigate safely. ...

used in maritime

pilotage Piloting or pilotage is the process of navigating on water or in the air using fixed points of reference on the sea or on land, usually with reference to a nautical chart or aeronautical chart to obtain a fix of the position of the vessel or air ...

to indicate the edge of a

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

. Each mark indicates the edge of the safe water channel in terms of

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

(left-hand) or

starboard Port and starboard are Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z), nautical terms for watercraft and spacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the Bow (watercraft), bow (front). Vessels with bil ...

(right-hand). These directions are relative to the ''direction of buoyage''; this is usually a nominally

upstream Upstream may refer to: * Upstream (hydrology), the direction towards the source of a stream (against the direction of flow) * Upstream (bioprocess), part of therapeutic cell manufacturing processes from early cell isolation and cultivation until ...

direction. In a river, the direction of buoyage is towards the river's source; in a harbour, the direction of buoyage is into the harbour from the sea. Where there may be doubt, it will be labelled on the appropriate

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. Often the

cardinal mark A cardinal mark is a sea mark (a buoy or other floating or fixed structure) commonly used in maritime pilotage to indicate the position of a hazard and the direction of safe water. Cardinal marks indicate the direction of safety as a cardinal (c ...

system is used instead when confusion about the direction would be common. A vessel heading in the direction of buoyage (e.g. into a harbour) and wishing to keep in the main channel should: * keep

marks to its port (left) side, and * keep

marks to its starboard (right) side.

IALA System

Marks are distinguished by their shape and colour, being red or green. For historical reasons, two different schemes are in use worldwide, differing in their use of colour. Previously there had been 30 different buoyage systems, before IALA rationalised the system. In 1980 on a conference convened by IALA, they agreed to adopt the rules of a new combined system, which combined the previous two systems (A and B) into one system, with two regions (A and B). The IALA defines them as Region A and Region B:

Region A

* comprises

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and most of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

, as well as

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. * port marks are red and may have a red flashing light of any rhythm except 2+1. * starboard marks are green and may have a green flashing light of any rhythm except 2+1.

Region B

* comprises

the Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sin ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, and

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

. * port marks are green and may have a green flashing light of any rhythm except 2+1 * starboard marks are red and may have a red flashing light of any rhythm except 2+1

Both regions

* port marks are square or have a flat top * starboard marks are conical (or present a triangular shape) or have a pointed top. The shape is an important feature, as colours cannot be distinguished in some light conditions, or by persons with red-green

colour blindness Color blindness, color vision deficiency (CVD) or color deficiency is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. The severity of color blindness ranges from mostly unnoticeable to full absence of color perception. Color bl ...

. Marks may also carry unique markings of letters and numbers; these may be used to identify the mark as one indicated on a

nautical chart A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...

. Likewise, a mark's light may flash in a distinctive sequence for the same purpose. When a channel divides, as for instance a channel to a smaller harbour off a main river, then a ''preferred channel'' or ''bifurcation'' mark is used. The mark has the same shape and main colour as a port- or starboard- hand mark for the main channel. It bears in addition a horizontal band with the appropriate colour for the smaller channel. For example: region A, main channel straight on, creek leading to marina to port. The buoy where the channels divide would be a red cylindrical can or pillar with a cylindrical top mark. Around the middle would be a green band. In IALA region B the shape would be identical, but the main colour would be green with a red band. See the buoy by the island in the diagram above. In Region A only, the phrase "Is there any red port left?" (referring to the red colour of the fortified wine "port") may be used as a mnemonic, indicating that a red mark must be kept on the left when "returning" to (i.e., entering) a harbour or river. In Region B only, the phrase "red right returning" may be used as a mnemonic, indicating that a red mark must be kept on the right when ''returning'' to (''i.e.'', entering) a harbour or river.

References

External links