Service of the headlights and beacons

Created in 1806, the service of the headlights and beacons are charged to maintain the devices assistance to the Navigation set up along the Côtes with France and to overseas announce the dangers (shelves, tops funds) and to mark out the sea routes and the channels of access to the Ports.

Competences and missions

In 2005, the devices of assistance to navigation maintained by the service the headlights and beacons include/understand approximately:

  • 8000 establishments of maritime indication ( ESM ) which break up into:
    • 150 Headlight S,
    • 3500 luminous marks,
    • 4500 passive marks.
  • 3 systems of Radionavigation: French ground stations of EGNOS (complement of GPS), LORAN C and a score of beacons Racon

The following missions also enter the perimeter of the service of the headlights and beacons:

  • coordination with the foreign States and the international organizations (international maritime Organization, AISM) for the questions concerned with maritime indication

  • the management of the material POLMAR (maritime fight against pollution)

Organization of the service

The service term of the headlights and beacons indicates in fact of the decentralized services , which depend at the central level on the Office on the headlights and beacons. This last is attached to the Direction of the Maritime businesses, which depends on the Head office of the Sea and Transport of the Ministère of Ecology, the Development and Installation durable. Thus, the operational activities of the service of the headlights and beacons proceed in 35 centers (27 in metropolis and 8 in overseas), established in each department having a frontage maritime and attached to DDE. Six centers (Dunkirk, Le Havre, Brest, Saint-Nazaire, the Verdon and Marseilles) have an particular importance, that of Brest having the effect of gathering 20% of the park of ESM. This departmental organization, which succeeded the maritime districts, is called today into question by a logic of coordination per maritime frontage, which could reinforce the role of the Maritime police chief. The personnel of these establishments (approximately 1200 people) includes/understands inter alia workmen charged to carry out repairs, sailors charged to lead the Baliseur S and the boats of work, and controllers of public works of the State specialized in the field of the headlights and beacons.

The service of the headlights and beacons shares with other services a research center specialized approximately cash 100 people, the Center of maritime and river technical studies (CETMEF), which develops the last evolutions of the material of indication.

Recent developments

Renewal of the fleet

The flotilla of the baliseurs and the boats of constraint was completely renewed between 1998 and 2005. Were brought into service:

  • 5 new Baliseur S oceanic,
  • 1 coastal Baliseur,
  • 12 boats of work.

Deployment of a buoy of new generation

A type of lighter buoy, integrating best the devices added recently (solar panel…) was developed by the CETMEF and is in the course of deployment. This material should make it possible to reduce the maintenance costs.

Automation of the headlights

The programme of automation of the headlights, started in years 1990 was completed in 2004, with the end of the guarding of the headlight of Kéréon. From now on the startup of all the headlights is automatic and their monitoring (state of the batteries, operation of the devices…) is assured remote by telecontrol.

Maintenance of LORAN C

LORAN C, made obsolete by GPS, was abandoned in 2005 by the principal partners of France within the chain Northern Europe (NELS). The French authorities, for reasons exceeding the framework of the missions of the service (equipment of the National marine, national independence), decided to maintain the ground stations of LORAN C until 2015.

Galileo

The future European system of positioning by satellites Galileo, when it becomes operational about 2010, should be integrated into the systems of Radionavigation of assistance with navigation.

Experimentation of the BOARD

The service of the headlights and beacons tests the automatic Information system (BOARD acronym of Automatic Identification System ) for its application to the beaconing. This system, now generalized on the tradind ships, allows, thanks to a receiving transmitter VHF, to identify, locate and know the road of each ship. This service is used initially by the ground stations charged to supervise the traffic of attended trade route. It also makes it possible to help to prevent the collisions, each ship having above mentioned information in its zone of navigation.

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