Our Safety At Night Relies On 19th Century Thinking

After urging the MCA to update the Colregs to make anchor lights more visible, Alastair Buchan finds himself still in the dark.

We asked for your views on anchor lights on small craft (Feb 16). A total of 193 of you replied, of whom 162 said that the rules should be reviewed. That is 84% in favour of change.

I asked the Marine and Coast guard Agency (MCA) for their views. They told me to 'raise this matter and your concerns jointly through the Cruising Association (CA) and the RYA. This will ensure wider representation of the recreational craft sector. MCA personnel are attending a meeting of the CA Regulations and Technical Services (RATS) group.’

This advice sounds familiar. In 2015 the MCA recommended that I raise the subject at its September 2015 UKSON (UK Safety Of Navigation) meeting. I did. The meeting decided that the proposal of a white flashing light (as an alternative anchor light) could interfere with aids to navigation. End of discussion, despite the fact that I had proposed discussing how anchor lights could be changed

The Colregs are unlikely to change, so it’s up to us to find a way of being more visible at anchor without looking like any other light characteristic to make them more visible – not replacing a fixed light with a flashing light.