Bouyage vessel

A buoyage vessel places and maintains buoys. Her aft deck is flat and provides room to carry or
haul in the buoys with her hoisting installation.
Buoys have long been regarded as the signposts of the sea, their colours and shapes universally
decreed by the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities. It is these colours, shapes
and their topmarks which tell the mariner which side a hazard lies, which side his ship should
pass, and by reference to his charts, his exact position. Where waters are shallow and channels
complex, they are still, even in the age of satellite navigation still very useful.

Buoys, especially those which are used in offshore, exposed positions, have to be tough, and they
are robustly constructed of steel, typically weigh from 5 to 10 tonnes, and are fastened to the sea
bed with anchors and toughened chain moorings. They have to be lifted every few years to blast
off the accretions of barnacles and growth and check the wear in the moorings before painting
them and replacing them. The wear on the moorings, especially in a tideway, can be considerable
and half the thickness of a hardened steel eye can be worn away between refits by the chafing
chains.

Buoys with lights mounted on top of them once needed to be regularly refuelled by the light
tenders, usually with acetylene which was stored in a tank in the hull of the buoy. Today, most
light house authorities have fitted their navigational aids with solar panels which can provide
sufficient power for the lamps, so the visiting tender will need only to give these the occasional
clean.

Buoyage vessel is intended to deliver navigable feature marks, lay them in certain places,
maintain floating and fixed beacons during the navigation period and fulfil surveying work on
the rivers, lakes and water storage basins at wave height up to 1.2 m in moderate climate regions.
In case the vessel takes part in oil outflow elimination a set of facilities for oil booms laying is

provided also. There is an articulated crane, 1 ton of capacity, and a working deck to place four
booms of typical size 3 or cargo.

All the necessary facilities as anchor gear, towing gear and mooring arrangement, life-saving
equipment and communication systems, fire-fighting equipment are provided in accordance with
the Russian River Register. Magnetic compass, echo-sounder, electronic navigation system,
navigational radar and computer-assisted surveying system are on the vessel to provide her with
safe and reliable fulfillment of main tasks. The vessel embraces three two-berth cabins; galley
and rooms for having rest and meals; shower, WC with washbasin; drying room and storerooms.
The miniaturising of components means that buoys can provide surprisingly sophisticated and
detailed information to the navigator. Buoys will often contain radar reflectors and even radar
beacons, which will provide a distinctive paint on a ships radar, helping to distinguish the
buoy from all the other echoes that might be on the screen. They have been used to gather and
transmit weather data to meteorological authorities, and then indirectly help with the shipping
forecasts transmitted to ships.

David Teodor, grupa: TA 11, Bouyage Vessel