User Consultation
For enquiries on User Consultation, please contact the Navigation Directorate.Email: navigation.directorate@thls.org
Telephone: 020 7481 6900
August 2009
Bardsey Island Lighthouse
To download the User Consultation document click here.
We are currently planning the re-engineering of Bardsey Island Lighthouse during which existing obsolete equipment will be replaced. As part of the planning we are reviewing the aids to navigation currently exhibited from this lighthouse and are therefore consulting with users to ensure that our proposals meet the user requirement.
Bardsey Island Lighthouse is situated at the south of Bardsey Island off the Lleyn Peninsula in Cardigan Bay, West Coast of Wales, in position Latitude 52º 44’.98N., Longitude 004º 48’.01W. (see UK Hydrographic Office chart 1971). Currently a group flashing five every fifteen seconds WHITE light (Fl (5) W 15s) is exhibited, which has the following composition:-
flash 0.1 seconds, eclipse 1.8 seconds
flash 0.1 seconds, eclipse 1.8 seconds
flash 0.1 seconds, eclipse 1.8 seconds
flash 0.1 seconds, eclipse 1.8 seconds
flash 0.1 seconds, eclipse 7.3 seconds
The light has a nominal range of 26 nautical miles and is exhibited continuously through 24 hours. In addition a fog signal with a character of Morse N and an IALA Usual Range of 2 nautical miles is sounded in conditions of reduced visibility.
On re-engineering it is proposed to exhibit a RED light and to alter the light character to one flash every five seconds (Fl 5s), reduce the nominal range of the light to 18 nautical miles and the hours of exhibition to “night time & fog” only. A LED lantern will be utilised enabling a considerable reduction in maintenance to be achieved. The different lantern arrangement will mean that the light is sharper however there will no longer be the loom currently associated with the existing rotating optic. The light will however continue to be exhibited from the existing tower which will continue to exhibit its characteristic daymark (alternate red & white horizontal bands). It is intended to discontinue the fog signal. Because of the nature of these changes, at least 3 months advance notification will be given by Trinity House Notice to Mariners.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could arrange to seek the views of those members of your organisation who are marine users of this lighthouse on the changes proposed and submit them by 11 September. Please bear in mind when making your response that this consultation is concerned with determining the navigational requirements and the impacts of the proposed changes for the mariner.
All responses to this consultation will be acknowledged when received and we will let you know how we intend to proceed after the results of the consultation have been considered. Please write or e-mail, noting “Bardsey Island Lighthouse Consultation”, by 11 September 2009, to:
Navigation Directorate
Trinity House
Tower Hill
London
EC3N 4DH
E-mail: navigation.directorate@thls.org
April 2009
Proposed Alterations to Hilbre Swash buoys
To download the User Consultation document click here.
Trinity House as the General Lighthouse Authority for England and Wales provides and maintains the buoys marking the Hilbre Swash. Our recent check survey confirms that the charted 2 metre isobath west of the existing HE2 buoy has receded. In order to better mark the navigable channel within existing resources, consideration is currently being given to the position & navigational characteristics of the HE2 buoy and to the position of the HE3 buoy.
The existing & proposed positions of these buoys are:
| Station | Details | Existing | Proposed |
|---|---|---|---|
| HE2 | Position Latitude Longitude Type Light Character |
53º 25’.130N 003º 13’.070W East Cardinal (Black / Yellow / Black) Q (3) 10s |
53º 24’.899N 003º 12’.833W Starboard Lateral (Green) Fl G 2.5s |
| HE3 | Position Latitude Longitude Type Light Character |
53º 24’.615N 003º12’.820W Starboard Lateral (Green) Q G |
53º 24’.615N 003º 12.783W Starboard Lateral (Green) – No change Q G – No change |
Please write or e-mail, noting “Hilbre Swash Buoys Consultation”, by 30 June 2009, to:
Navigation Directorate
Trinity House
Tower Hill
London
EC3N 4DH
E-mail: navigation.directorate@thls.org
October 2008
Mumbles Lighthouse – Continued Navigational Requirement for Fog Signal
To download the User Consultation document click here.
Trinity House as the General Lighthouse Authority for England and Wales maintains the existing Lighthouse at Mumbles Head at the west of Swansea Bay. Consideration is currently being given to the navigational requirement for the fog signal with a view to it being discontinued.
Details of the lighthouse are as follows:
- Position - Latitude 51º34’.009N., Longitude 003º 58’.268W
- Light
- Range - 15 nautical miles
- Omnidirectional Fog Signal
- Breakdown - bl 1.3s, si 2s; bl 1.3s, si 2s; bl 1.4s, si 52s
- Range - two nautical miles (sounded when the visibility reduces to two nautical miles or less).
The fog signal is primarily provided to warn of the hazard presented by the promontory on which the Lighthouse is situated and the Mixon Shoal off the headland. Observations are invited from mariners on the use currently being made of the fog signal. The proposal is that the fog signal can be completely discontinued, without detriment to the safety of navigation.
Please write or e-mail, noting “Mumbles Lighthouse Consultation” by 31 January 2009, to:
Navigation Directorate
Trinity House
Tower Hill
London
EC3N 4DH
E-mail: navigation.directorate@thls.org
April 2008
Buoys marking the remains of the Prince Ivanhoe Wreck in Port Eynon Bay, South Wales
The findings of recent surveys have caused Trinity House to consider the continuing navigational requirement for the Prince Ivanhoe buoys in Port Eynon bay, off the Gower coast, South Wales. The two unlighted red can port hand buoys mark the remains of the Prince Ivanhoe and are established in the following positions:
- Prince Ivanhoe E., Latitude 51º 32’.667N., Longitude 04º 11.690W.
- Prince Ivanhoe S., Latitude 51º 32’.577N., Longitude 04º 11.870W.
The Prince Ivanhoe was a small commercial passenger vessel that was wrecked in the bay during the early 1980’s. A dispersal operation carried out during 1985/86 failed to obtain the two metres LAT clearance that was required at that time. It was considered after consulting with the local RNLI representative that the wreckage presented a danger to the operation of lifeboats, and the site should be permanently marked by means of two red can unlighted buoys, in the positions detailed above, until the required clearance was obtained.
Trinity House has continued to mark the site in this way, carrying out intermittent surveys in the intervening years to check the clearance. The most recent survey, carried out in February 2008, found a clearance depth of 2.4 metres LAT in general depths of 2.8 metres. This confirmed the findings of the previous survey carried out in November 2006. These findings have been advised to the RNLI, and their local representatives at Horton and Port Eynon have confirmed that the wreck is not posing any hazard now and the buoys could be removed, although they comment that the buoys do provide a useful manoeuvring target.
Trinity House has considered both the survey findings and the RNLI's comments very carefully and has decided to discontinue these buoys during Autumn 2008, the work being provisionally programmed for mid–October, subject to operational exigencies.
A Trinity House Notice to Mariners will be issued giving four weeks preliminary notice of the date on which it is intended to remove the buoys.
