The Government’s decision to relocate the guiding light from the lighthouse to the top of the eight- storey Marriott Hotel now being constructed may put the country out of step in terms of its maritime compliance internationally, says a maritime professional.
Minister of Works Robeson Benn recently revealed to Stabroek News that the light at the top of the lighthouse will be relocated to the top of the hotel edifice since the height of the building would pose a problem.
Writing in a letter appearing in this newspaper today, Captain Rouchie Adams M.N.I. said that the lighthouse is located in an internationally known position and wanted to know whether the Government has informed the international maritime bodies of its intended actions.
He said that the Georgetown lighthouse is located in its internationally known position of Latitude 6 49.5 N Longitude 58 09.9 W and that the light which is at a height of 103 feet is a white and red sectored light revolving every 60 seconds with a visibility of 16 miles.
“As it relates to mariners at sea, this light must be visible over an unbroken arc, any blind sector could spell danger and create problems for the mariner,” Adams said.
He said that the fact that the light is red and white-sectored serves a specific purpose. He said that if a vessel at sea approaching the channel leading to the entrance of the Demerara River from within the north western quadrant sees only the red sector of the light that vessel can be deemed to be in the dangerous sector depending on its distance off shore. He said that such a vessel must continue on its course until the white sector appears – the safe sector – before it should alter course to make its final approach to the outer sea buoy.
Adams said that, if the vessel is approaching from within a north eastern quadrant then that vessel must make its final approach to the sea buoy before the red sector becomes visible.
“It must also be made clear that the lighthouse is not a ‘standalone’ aid to navigation, but in conjunction with other aids to navigation or conspicuous charted objects which are visible from sea, so that whether by day or night a ship’s precise position can be determined,” he said.
“Of greater concern from a navigational perspective, it would be a dereliction of duty on my part if I do not point out the consequences of maintaining the revolving light ‘as is’ on the Lighthouse and at the same time placing an ‘oscillating light’ atop of the Marriott Hotel due to their very close proximity,” he said.
He explained that one minute of latitude on a nautical chart is equivalent to one nautical mile or 6080 feet. “I do not know the exact distance measured in a northerly direction between the Lighthouse and the Marriott Hotel, neither do I know the exact distance measured in an easterly direction, but it’s a lot less than the northerly distance,” he said.
“What I do know, however, is the difference of latitude and the difference of longitude will be mere seconds of arc. Now ask the mariner to plot these two positions on his general navigation chart, the two positions will be virtually on top of each other,” he said.
“To have two lights with different characteristics, whether fixed, flashing, occulting or revolving from virtually the same position could result in some amount of uncertainty and confusion to the mariner. I, therefore, urge the decision makers to engage in serious deliberations when deciding what to do with the light on the lighthouse,” said Adams.
He said that the relevant technical officials ought to embark on a programme that will indicate to the mariner whether his vessel is in the safe zone or the danger zone, “as the new light will no longer be observed from its original position and might very well be of different characteristics.”
He said too that of vital importance is Guyana’s obligation to notify the authority which compiles the Admiralty List of lights around the world as soon as changes are made to existing aids to navigation.
When told of the concerns raised in the letter, Benn said that persons are in the habit of writing letters on the premise that the Government does not know what it is about. He said that persons must realise that the Ministry has its engineers and advisors and are well aware of all of the requirements. He said that all of the changes will be properly documented and will be reflected in the next edition of the tide tables and list of lights.
