Today (1 July) is World Marine Aids to Navigation Day (WAtoN Day) 2025. WAtoN Day is led by the International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation (IALA) to promote awareness of the importance of marine aids to navigation and the work done by its global membership to improve and harmonise standards worldwide for the efficiency of navigation and protection of the environment.
The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) and Trinity House are proud to support the principal international event for WAtoN Day 2025, on behalf of the UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT), at a three-day event taking place in London and Harwich between 30 June and 2 July.
This is a particularly important year for IALA as it has just become an Inter-Governmental Organisation.
The focus of the event—taking place in Trinity House in London—will be two panel discussions where invited participants from maritime organisations around the world will be able to put questions to a panel of leading technology and maritime experts. The theme for the day’s discussions is the role of physical aids to navigation in a digital future.
Special guests include HRH The Princess Royal and Mike Kane MP, Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security. HRH The Princess Royal is the Patron of the Northern Lighthouse Board, and the Master of Trinity House.
As co-hosts, Commodore Mike Bullock OBE, Chief Executive of NLB, and Rear Admiral Iain Lower CB, Chief Executive of Trinity House, commented on the importance of the day:
“As an island nation, the United Kingdom has depended for centuries upon seagoing trade—import and export—for the prosperity of its people; as such, the Northern Lighthouse Board and Trinity House—along with Irish Lights in Ireland—have long been entrusted with the mission to meet the Government’s need for the safe transit of ships and seafarers.
“The origins of WAtoN Day are rooted in a collective desire by IALA’s members to champion greater awareness of the need for marine aids to navigation—such as lighthouses and buoys—as a vital means of keeping lives safe at sea and assuring the swift circulation of global shipping.”
Tomorrow, the participants will visit the east coast operational base of Trinity House in the port town of Harwich for a technical and operational tour. This will showcase the importance of marine aids to navigation and the work involved to support the General Lighthouse Authorities’ joint mission to provide reliable, efficient and cost-effective aids to navigation for the benefit and safety of all mariners and protection of the environment.
IALA
The International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation’s (IALA) mission is to harmonise marine aids to navigation worldwide and ensure that the movement of vessels is safe expeditious and cost-effective while protecting the marine environment. In August 2024 IALA changed its status from a non-governmental to an inter-governmental organisation.
Department for Transport
The Department creates the strategic framework for transport services in the UK which are delivered through a wide range of public and private sector bodies including its own executive agencies, including the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and arms-length bodies which include Trinity House and the Northern Lighthouse Board. It supports the transport network that helps the UK’s businesses and gets people and goods travelling around the country efficiently and safely by planning and investing in transport infrastructure to keep the UK on the move. The Department represents the UK at IALA.
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport
Northern Lighthouse Board
The Northern Lighthouse Board has provided a vital safety service to mariners since 1786 and is the General Lighthouse Authority responsible for the superintendence and management of all lights, buoys and beacons within Scottish and Isle of Man waters. Its service makes a significant contribution to the prevention of accidents and incidents around the coastline, safeguarding not only lives and property, but also protecting our precious marine environment.
www.nlb.org.uk
Trinity House
Trinity House is a charity dedicated to safeguarding shipping and seafarers, providing education, support and welfare to the seafaring community with a statutory duty as a General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales the Channel Islands and Gibraltar to deliver a reliable, efficient and cost-effective aids to navigation service for the benefit and safety of all mariners.
Smalls Lighthouse