Northern Lighthouse Board
Notice to Mariners, 21 April, 2022

Notice is given that, with immediate effect, the range of the light at this station has been temporarily reduced to display the undernoted characteristics:-

A further Notice to Mariners will be issued prior to the re-establishment of a permanent light.

M P BULLOCK
Chief Executive

Northern Lighthouse Board
Notice to Mariners, 22 February, 2022

Notice is given that, with immediate effect, the existing DGPS transmission at this station has been permanently withdrawn due to a catastrophic lightning strike.

With reference to NOTICE TO MARINERS NO 3 OF 2022 (DATED 5 JANUARY 2022), the remaining General Lighthouse Authority public DGPS transmissions will be in operation until the previously notified discontinuation date of 31st March 2022, with the station overlap continuing to provide DGPS transmission coverage throughout the UK and Ireland.

M P BULLOCK
Chief Executive

Northern Lighthouse Board
Notice to Mariners, 3 February, 2022

Notice is given that, with immediate effect, the existing light at this station has been withdrawn and replaced by a TEMPORARY LIGHT with the undernoted characteristics:-

A further Notice to Mariners will be issued prior to the re-establishment of a permanent light of the charted character.

M P BULLOCK
Chief Executive

Northern Lighthouse Board
Notice to Mariners, 5 January, 2022

Northern Lighthouse Board wishes to remind mariners of the contents of previously issued NOTICE TO MARINERS NO 7 OF 2020 (DATED 28 SEPTEMBER 2020). After careful consideration of the results of a comprehensive user consultation process, the General Lighthouse Authorities for the UK and Ireland have concluded that their Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) is no longer required and have made the decision that the system will be discontinued from 31 MARCH 2022.

The (DGPS) Service for UK and Ireland was established at a time when the publicly available GPS signal was intentionally degraded, resulting in large position errors. Augmentation was necessary to correct for these errors and meet minimum requirements for maritime positioning and navigation. In the year 2000, the intentional error in GPS positioning was removed. Since then, system technology has improved and the GPS constellation has been modernised. Observed positional accuracy for unaugmented GPS now consistently meets IMO requirements for the accuracy of navigation around the coast of the UK and Ireland.

How will the discontinuation impact you?
For the vast majority of maritime users, the discontinuation of DGPS service for the UK and Ireland will not impact the accuracy of satellite positioning or safe navigation. DGPS receivers will no longer receive the DGPS signal in areas where it was previously available. This may generate a ‘lost signal’ alarm, but receivers will still provide a GPS derived position.

Alternate sources for high accuracy positioning
Other options are available for obtaining higher accuracy positioning in the UK and Ireland.

M P BULLOCK
Chief Executive

Northern Lighthouse Board
Notice to Mariners, 5 January, 2022

Northern Lighthouse Board advise that the following Notices to Mariners from previous years remain in force:

12/2018 Stroma (Swilkie Point) – temporary light
11/2021 Fair Isle South (Skadan) – temporary light
13/2021 Lunna Holm – temporary light

M P BULLOCK
Chief Executive

Northern Lighthouse Board
Notice to Mariners, 5 January, 2022

Northern Lighthouse Board request Mariners navigating around our coasts to exercise the greatest care to avoid damage to floating Aids to Navigation.

Mariners should give all navigational buoys a wide berth, always having regard for the strength of the wind and tide, and are requested to report immediately any defect in any Aid to Navigation either to NLB’s Monitoring Centre (telephone 0131 473 3198), or to HM Coastguard.

The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 makes provision for the imposition of a fine on any person who wilfully or negligently runs foul of, or makes fast to, any Lighthouse, Buoy or Beacon, and for the recovery of the expenses for making good any resulting damage.

Northern Lighthouse Board operates a number of lighthouses with adjacent boat landings. Since the departure of lightkeepers from these sites, the landings are no longer maintained and we accept no liability for injuries or damage caused by unauthorised access to these sites.

Mariners are invited to contact the Navigation Section, Northern Lighthouse Board (navigation@nlb.org.uk), to comment on any aspect of the Aids to Navigation Service or on hazards to navigation around our coasts.

M P BULLOCK
Chief Executive