Trinity House User Group Meeting

by John Hasselgren

I was privileged to attend this annual meeting at Trinity House in November. Unlike those before COVID-19, and that held last year on board THV Galatea, this was a hybrid meeting, with some being physically present and others attending online.

The recently appointed Deputy Master, Rear Admiral Iain Lower, introduced himself, explaining that another meeting would shortly require him to depart. Before doing so, he welcomed us and stressed the importance of these user group meetings. Trinity House’s new strategies were detailed in the Forward Plan launched in March. Feedback on this would be required. Its focus was on delivering safety and honouring Trinity House's heritage while still encouraging innovation. This would assist the nation’s economy and security. An innovative mix of real and virtual Aids to Navigation would be used, together with smart buoys with a longer life. Replacement vessels were to be sought; Patricia was now 44 years old, and Galatea 25 years.

After Iain Lower had departed, Commodore Nigel Hare, Director of Navigational Requirements, chaired the meeting. The Terms of Reference for this user group were introduced, stating that it hadn’t been updated for several years. Attendees were listed – one from the RIN – but we were assured that additions could be made and that it would be appreciated if requests to do so were made very soon, preferably within a week.


The meeting now moved on to recent and current issues:

In the Thames Estuary, Long Sand Head, which had been stable for several years was now moving North and had crossed the direct line between two buoys. This is a crucial area as the sandbank is likely to intrude into the Sunk TSS off Harwich. One buoy had been repositioned and a new one, East Long Sand Head - East Cardinal - instituted.

In the Stanford Channel the Holm Sand is migrating South and it is now only possible to mark a 4.5 metre contour.

Bishop Rock LH. The AIS signal ceased to operate. Since the nearest available helicopter to get a crew to the lighthouse to fix the problem was in Scotland, a virtual AIS mark was transmitted from St. Just with a 30-mile range. Unfortunately, this wasn’t receivable onboard ships at sea. To solve this range problem engineers installed a mobile AIS station at Peninnis Head on St. Mary’s until the one in the lighthouse could be replaced.

At Brancaster the wreck of the Vina, the marking of which TH took over in 1998, sits on the drying line and is now reported to becoming covered by the moving sand bank. As a result, the beacon marking it, used by local fishermen, is not easily visible. It is to be raised by 2 metres.

TH is aware of 9 new wrecks, leisure or fishing vessels, and has attended 7 of them. Lady Maureen was located with sonar by THV Patricia, with the search completed by RIB from THV Mair. In 24 metres depth there was no need to mark this. Similarly, the wreck of Skomar was found by THV Galatea with 8.5 metres over her, and no need to mark.

Andy Holt, Deputy Director of Navigation, reported a struggle to meet the schedule of maintenance due to the availability of vessels and the turnover of staff. Even so, maintenance was still ahead of IALA requirements. The moorings of Sandettie LV have been replaced and those for Fox Trot 3 LV are due to be done. A contract for the provision of helicopters for maintenance of isolated AtoNs is being pursued. Moving on to the vessels, THV Alert is having an extensive refit  in Lowestoft; the hydraulics are a serious problem. THV Patricia is now ‘delicate’, but her systems are mostly analogue so can be remade and replaced. However, she has bow thruster problems. THV Mair is a mainly west coast vessel, often used in conjunction with a RIB. She works mainly on beacons.

Lighthouses due for modernisation this year are Needles, Trevose Head and Pendeen. There will be system upgrades for the red light sectors at Nash Point, South Bishop and Dungeness. High-pressure mercury lamps (MBI) will be replaced at Bull Point, Round Island and Bamburgh Head. Projects agreed are those at Coquet, Cromer and Trevose Head, while modernization of Skerries has started.

The removal of the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse continues. The top accommodation section was removed in 2023, with the materials being recycled for the construction industry, and the pillar on which it stood is now being dismantled. Four cardinal buoys mark the site and will remain until surveys show the area is safe for navigation. 

Wolf Rock Tower has been repointed and inspected.

Adrian Oliver, Project Director, is responsible for the replacement of Patricia and Galatea. The basic technical specification has been agreed upon for two identical vessels. Engagement with the industry for the procurement is ongoing and it is hoped that approval will be given later this year.

Dr. Alan Grant, Head of Research, spoke of the areas covered by GRAD. These were:

Visual signalling.  
Assessment of the effectiveness of lighthouse and buoy lamps and the development of GLAs’ own LED sources, checking the long-term deterioration of LEDs and investigating how autonomous vessels will observe AtoNs.

Resilient PNT.        
Monitoring the performance and integrity of GNSS at several sites around the UK and looking at radar absolute positioning and other complementary PNT systems.

S-100 data structure.  
How different equipment and users will share data.

Digital services.
How do we authenticate virtual AtoNs, and can machine learning and AI identify failures before they occur?

One item of great interest to me is East Goodwin Lightvessel which is being replaced by a buoy since, with the accuracy of GNSS, many ships pass between it and the Goodwin Sands, and it has become a hazard itself. As AtoNs have a secondary role in helping position finding in the event of failure of other systems, I asked if the characteristic of the light could be something other than a single flash, from which is almost impossible to take a bearing at night from a small yacht. The light vessel is to be replaced by an East Cardinal Buoy with the characteristic three flashes.