Harbours to get new port signals system
NEW port signals will come into action next month to make for safer entry and exit of the island’s main harbours.
The five signals will indicate different instructions for boaters, informing them of when they can and cannot proceed in or out of the marinas.
The lights apply to all vessels using St Peter Port harbour.
In St Sampson’s Harbour, the display of three vertical red lights will indicate that a large vessel is entering or leaving. All other vessels must stay put until the lights are changed.
Guernsey Boat Owners Association president Nick Guillemette said that the change would provide a more modern directive to boats.
‘This is more definitive to communicate when you can come and go, it’s much safer.’
Vessels under 10m could previously come and go even if a commercial vessel was moving through the harbour.
‘It doesn’t work anymore because the harbour is so busy,’ said Mr Guillemette.
The waiting list to secure a mooring in one of Guernsey’s harbours is currently three years, due to an upsurge in the number of people seeking to keep a boat in the island since the start of the pandemic.
