This annual meeting was held on line via Cisco Webex on 7th. October. Hopefully, this report will give a flavour of meeting.

Information was given on the progress of the new vessel to replace THV Patricia, which will be retired. Approval for the new vessel has been given by the DfT and the Cabinet Office, with financial assurance provided by the Treasury. The new design is to be for a vessel capable of undertaking the core tasks of Trinity House such as buoy maintenance, lighthouse support and survey work, but with greater emphasis placed on heavy weather performance. This last is required due to a Risk Response review which, having considered modern traffic analysis, requires six hour and twelve hour responses in certain critical areas, most of which fall within the Trinity House area of responsibility. Propulsion and on board services will use a hybrid system to reduce fuel consumption, with stored batteries supplying the needs during periods of low power use. Tender documents have now been released to yards that were able to meet pre-selection criteria.

Support vessel operations for the three TH vessels Alert, Galatea and Patricia, along with the chartered MV Mair were shown. These indicated that Galatea and Patricia had carried out the majority of the annual buoy servicing and that Alert and Mair had completed most of the hydrographic surveys undertaken. The Covid-19 pandemic had required the crews of each vessel to have been tested prior to embarkation and then to operate in their own bubbles. More recent easing of restrictions had allowed Alert’s main crane to be replaced, providing a more reliable unit requiring reduced maintenance.

The modernization of Lundy North Lighthouse has been completed, allowing an increase in the nominal range to 18NM. Projects to modernize the lighthouses at St. Tudwals, Lynmouth Foreland and St. Catherine’s are progressing. At St. Tudwals the solar panels are being moved from ground level onto the tower, all electronics are being renewed and the current roof mounted emergency lantern will be moved into the tower. Lynmouth Foreland rotating optic is being changed to a modern LED unit which will only be displayed at night, thus reducing the power needed. St. Catherine’s electrical system is being upgraded and the light reduced to a nominal 18NM, made possible by modern navigation systems used in vessels and the fact that passing traffic tends to be further offshore. The red sector along the West coast of the Isle of Wight is being maintained as it is extremely important to vessels navigating to and from the Needles Channel.

Discussions revealed a request for the installation of a 5G mast on the St. Catherine’s site to provide coverage over the Solent. This could provide suitable contact with future autonomous vessels and also coverage of sailing events such as the Round the Island Race to broadcasters. 

Modernization of Flamborough Head and Farne Lighthouses is being planned. The lantern range at Flamborough Head will be reduced to 18 NM and the Hazard Warning Signal will become the standard 1 blast every 30 seconds. The red sector at Farne lighthouse will be increased from 7 to 8NM, with a more efficient light source and upgraded electronics.

The decommissioning of Royal Sovereign Lighthouse continues and has passed government approval, with the tendering process under way. Tenderers will be free to propose their own method of removal and allowed to spread this over three summers. The lighthouse was built in 1969 with an expected life of 50 years and is now deteriorating beyond economic repair. Altered traffic patterns, coupled with improvements at Beachy Head Lighthouse plus an offshore buoy, have made it less relevant.

Both Channel Lightvessel and Sunk Centre Lightvessel have been replaced by buoys. Traffic patterns over 28 days were shown, both before and after the removal of the lightvessels, and these indicated almost exactly similar patterns. The new Channel Light Buoy has meteorological equipment installed on it, designed with the Met Office, and will continue to provide data to feed into met forecasting models as well as offering real time information to local users.

Trinity House now have six lightvessels and one lightfloat on station, mostly marking significant dangers. All are getting old and need more frequent docking for maintenance. No decision has yet been made about their replacement, but any new design will no longer have to include crew space.

A major project is under way to replace the current monitoring method at lighthouses, lightvessels and significant buoys. This is currently achieved using a Vodafone VHF system called Paknet which they intend to close down in the near future. The stations will then be monitored using a mix of 4G and Iridium satellite communications.

As previously announced the DGPS system will cease at the end of March 2022. The MCA has issued MIN665 on this.

Moving on to Offshore Renewables we learned that 337 AtoNs at 35 sites were inspected and 29 were found to be defective. This is a marked improvement on the previous year, helped by increasing assistance and positive engagement received from the Crown Estates. It currently seems likely that the tidal power development off the Isle of Wight near St. Catherine’s will be started next year. Trinity House is waiting to see if consent will be given by the Secretary of State for BEIS (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – yes, I had to look it up!) for projects at North Vanguard, Norfolk Boreas, East Anglia One North and East Anglia Two. Also waiting on the decision by the Welsh Assembly on power developments at Morlais off Anglesea.

Construction is due to start on windfarms on the Dogger Bank, with Trinity House fully engaged with the lighting and marking for these sites. They are also engaged with the developers on numerous projects, including Floating Offshore Windfarm developments in the Celtic Sea, two large windfarms between the Mersey and the Isle of Man, and all the planned extensions to existing windfarms.

The BEIS (see above) have commenced a review of “National Policy Statements on Energy”, which is due to run until 29th. November. Trinity House are engaged in the process and recommend others with interests in Shipping and navigation to engage in this at: 
(https://beisgovuk.citizenspace.com/energy-strategy-networks-markets/energy-nps/)

Although no member of GRAD was present, documentation provided an update of their work. This includes working with Emu Analytics Ltd. to develop a means of predicting ship movements around windfarms using AI – Continuing work on the BinoNav® method of transferring bearings to an electronic chart, which the Nautical Institute is keen to support – Improving the efficiency of LED lights with trials of a 24 sided lamp, fitted with 72 LEDs, for installation in traditional optics – A study of how Machine Vision could be used to enhance electronic navigation at sea using a camera for flash detection in poor visibility. This last one must please Andy Norris.

John Hasselgren.