Buoyage and Beaconage

Floating seamarks deployed on the Humber conform to the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities System "A". This system is used throughout Northern Europe and employs lateral marks "red to port", "green to starboard" and cardinal marks. It was first introduced in the Humber in 1974.The Harbour Master has 113 floating marks at his disposal, of which 29 are floats and 84 are buoys. In addition, 29 shore marks are maintained or monitored by ABP staff. A further 35 shore marks on the River Ouse are maintained by the Port of Goole.

Current Positions of Seamarks

To enable mariners to plot the positions of seamarks and mooring buoys under the control of ABP Humber Estuary Services, as Local Lighthouse Authority, the following list contains details of both the National Grid co-ordinates (OSGB 36 datum), for use with Ordnance Survey maps and Latitude and Longitude (WGS84 datum) geographical positions, which are compatible with GPS satellite receivers.

The list is updated regularly, but users should check the 'corrected' date and any subsequent local Notices to Mariners issued by ABP, in order to ensure that the most up-to-date positions are used. (There have been as many as 90 movements of seamarks in one year).