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.

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.