The Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL) are the General Lighthouse Authority for the island of Ireland. Under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (in respect of the Republic of Ireland) and the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (in respect of Northern Ireland) the Commissioners are responsible for the superintendence and management of all aids to marine navigation around the coast of Ireland and its adjacent waters. Statutory Sanction must be obtained from the Commissioners of Irish Lights for the establishment, alteration, or discontinuation of local aids to marine navigation in ports, harbours and on coastlines which are within the jurisdiction of a local lighthouse authority. (Such authorities are Port Authorities and County Councils). Aids to marine navigation include lights, buoys, leading lights, daymarks, topmarks, livery, fog signals, and radio aids to navigation.

If you wish to apply for statutory sanction you should download and print out the form below, complete it, sign it, and post it to the Head of Marine, Irish Lights Office, Harbour Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

• Download Application Form (58k MS Word Document)
• Download Notes on Completion of Application Form.doc(30k MS Word Document)

NOTES ON COMPLETION OF APPLICATION FOR STATUTORY SANCTION
Before any aid to navigation can be established, altered or disestablished consent in the form of Statutory Sanction under the Merchant Shipping Act must be obtained from the Commissioners of Irish Lights. In most cases the application for consent must be forwarded through the relevant Local Lighthouse Authority.

The purpose of these notes is to assist aids to navigation providers in the completion of the Statutory Sanction application form. The form is intended to be comprehensive but not exhaustive. Where appropriate, additional information or remarks should be provided on a separate sheet.

Further detailed information on aids to navigation provision is available in the Aids to Navigation Guide (Navguide) published by the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA).

Where further assistance is required please contact the Marine Department of CIL on Tel: 01 2715400, Fax: 01 2715566, or email marine@cil.ie.

Opening Paragraph
The wording of the form is for applications to establish aids to navigation. Statutory sanction is also required for altering or disestablishing an aid and the wording should be amended where required.

For aids to navigation in Northern Ireland the relevant legislation is section 199 (2) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, for aids to navigation in the Republic of Ireland the relevant legislation is section 653 (2) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, the non relevant wording should be deleted.

A brief explanation should be given of the purpose for which the work is being carried out.

Name of Aid
A relevant and distinctive name or number should be assigned to each aid. Where possible this name should be shown on the aid.

Port Area
The port or area which the aid will serve should be indicated for offshore aids enter ‘offshore’.

Datum, Latitude and Longitude
Charts of Irish waters are gradually being converted to ETRS89 datum which is a European Datum based on WGS84. This is the preferred datum for indicating positions of aids to navigation. Where another datum is used this should be clearly indicated so that positions can be converted / transformed.

Latitude and Longitude should be expressed in degrees, minutes and decimals of a minute to three places of decimals. For example the WGS84 position of the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse is 51° 23.362’ N 09° 36.184’ W.

Where it is not possible to give the Latitude and Longitude grid references may be given provided the grid / datum is clearly indicated.

Type of Aid and IALA Category
Types of aid include, lighthouses, beacons, buoys, leading lights, PELs, fog signals, Racons, AIS and Local Correction Systems.

IALA Category refers to the importance of a particular aid within the aids to navigation system based on the assessment of risk by the provider / Local Lighthouse Authority.

Category 1 aids are required to meet a minimum average availability of 99.80%.

Category 2 aids are required to meet a minimum average availability of 99.00%.

Category 3 aids are required to meet a minimum average availability of 97.00%.


Structure & Shape and Colour
The information given here should provide a good physical description of the aid. Drawings should be submitted where appropriate.

Character and Range
For lighted aids the flash character and its breakdown should be given. For example the character of a light which flashes red every 5 seconds with a flash length of 0.3 seconds would be described as Fl R 5s (fl 0.3, ec 4.7).

The range should be the nominal range expressed in nautical miles. Nominal range is the luminous range where the meteorological visibility is 10 nautical miles, which is equivalent to a transmission factor of T = 0.74.

In general statutory sanction will not be granted for lights with ranges of less than 2.0 miles.

Radio Aids, Fog Signal and Topmark
Radio Aids which may be provided include Racons, Automatic Identification Systems, Radar Target Enhancers and Local Correction Systems. Full details should be given including manufacturer, frequencies, coding and range. It should be noted that in addition to CIL Statutory Sanction any transmitting device requires a radio licence from the relevant authority.

The type and character of any Fog Signal or other audible signal should be fully described.

The shape and colour of the topmark should be fully described.

Height, Dimensions, Power Source, Weight and Moorings
The height in metres above Mean High Water Springs should be stated separately to the actual dimensions of the structure. For a floating aid this will be the distance from the waterline to the focal plane of the light or the top of the daymark if unlighted. For a land based aid the height above MHWS of the location on which the structure is placed will have to be added to the distance from the base of the structure to the focal plane / top of daymark.

The dimensions of the actual structure should be given in metres or indicated on a drawing as appropriate.

Types of power source include mains, mains with battery backup, solar, wind, and battery.

For floating aids the weight of the aid, not including moorings, should be given along with a full description of the mooring including the weight of the various elements involved.

Contacts, Signature, Authority and Provider
Main and local contact details should be given to facilitate a timely response to any reports that the aid has become defective or to arrange inspections / audits.

The application must be signed by a representative of the Local Lighthouse Authority seeking sanction for the aid.

The Local Lighthouse Authority seeking sanction and the provider of the aid should be clearly identified. The provider will be responsible for the provision and ongoing maintenance of the aid.