Littlehampton harbour chiefs give safety green light

HARBOUR chiefs have literally given the green light to greater safety for mariners.

The green light beacon at the entrance of the harbour has been replaced with a much more powerful beacon, capable of being seen much further out to sea than the old one.

Work on constructing the new beacon was carried out using the Walcon Wizard, a highly manoeuvrable, twin engine, self-propelled, shallow-draught construction barge.

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It took about three days to complete the work, on behalf of Littlehampton Harbour Board.

The new light beacon is solar-powered, safe to access for maintenance, and has a stronger light, with a range of six nautical miles, to match the corresponding red light at the end of the West Works trailing arm on the western side of the harbour entrance.

Chairman of the harbour board, Graham Tyler, said: “This is a significant improvement to the harbour’s aids to navigation that benefits both resident and visiting yachtsmen, and commercial shipping.”

Harbour manager Anne Carnegie stressed the work was routine maintenance and nothing to do with the incident in August when the cargo ship, MV Mungo, ran aground close to the beacon in an accident thought to have been caused by steering failure.

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The old light could be seen from just two nautical miles away, and at a harbour board meeting earlier this year it was claimed that, at times, the light was so poor that some mariners were confusing it with the pedestrian crossing traffic lights alongside Norfolk Gardens.

A Littlehampton lifeboat crew has confirmed the new beacon is visible from west of Bognor pier.

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