The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House, is the official authority for lighthouses in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar. Trinity House is also responsible for the provision and maintenance of other navigational aids, such as lightvessels, buoys, and maritime radio/satellite communication systems. It is also an official deep sea pilotage authority, providing expert navigators for ships trading in Northern European waters.
A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the first modern lightvessel was off the Nore sandbank at the mouth of the River Thames in London, England, placed there by its inventor Robert Hamblin in 1734. The type has become largely obsolete; lighthouses replaced some stations as the construction techniques for lighthouses advanced, while large, automated buoys replaced others.
The history of the many lightvessel stations of Great Britain goes back over 250 years to the placement of the world's first lightship at the Nore in the early 18th century.
Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long (16 km) sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying 6 miles (10 km) off the Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately 25 m (82 ft) depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geological feature that incorporates the White Cliffs of Dover. The banks lie between 0.5 m above the low water mark to around 3 m (10 ft) below low water, except for one channel that drops to around 20 m (66 ft) below. Tides and currents are constantly shifting the shoals.
Nyhavn is a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the Inner Harbour just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants. The canal harbours many historical wooden ships.
Alexander von Humboldt is a German sailing ship originally built in 1906 by the German shipyard AG Weser at Bremen as the lightship Reserve Sonderburg. She was operated throughout the North and Baltic Seas until being retired in 1986. Subsequently, she was converted into a three masted barque by the German shipyard Motorwerke Bremerhaven and was re-launched in 1988 as Alexander von Humboldt. In 2011 the ship was taken off sail-training and sent to the Caribbean for the charter business, then she was converted to a botel.
The United States lightship Huron (LV-103) is a lightvessel that was launched in 1920. She is now a museum ship moored in Pine Grove Park, Port Huron, St. Clair County, Michigan.
Sevenstones Lightship is a lightvessel station off the Seven Stones Reef which is nearly 15 miles (24 km) to the west-north-west (WNW) of Land's End, Cornwall, and 7 miles (11 km) east-north-east (ENE) of the Isles of Scilly. The reef has been a navigational hazard to shipping for centuries with seventy-one named wrecks and an estimated two hundred shipwrecks overall, the most infamous being the oil tanker Torrey Canyon on 18 March 1967. The rocks are only exposed at half tide. Since it was not feasible to build a lighthouse, a lightvessel was provided by Trinity House. The first was moored near the reef on 20 August 1841 and exhibited its first light on 1 September 1841. She is permanently anchored in 40 fathoms (73 m) and is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north-east (NE) of the reef. Since 1987, the Sevenstones Lightship has been automated and unmanned.
P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe. The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O. It has been owned by Dubai-based DP World since 2019.
Sandettie is a lightvessel station located at Sandettie Bank in the North Sea. It is one of the 22 coastal weather stations whose conditions are reported in the BBC Shipping Forecast. The vessel is named after her location on the Sandettie Bank, due north of Calais and due east of the South Foreland. The ship has no engine and is not crewed. Its lights are powered by solar panels.
Channel was the name of a lightvessel station located in the English Channel between 1979 and August 2021, when it was replaced with a light buoy. It was also one of the 22 coastal weather stations whose conditions were reported in the BBC Shipping Forecast. The vessel's position was 49°55′N2°54′W, approximately 56 km (35 mi) north-northwest of Guernsey.
Margaritaville at Sea Paradise is a cruise ship owned by Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and operating for Margaritaville at Sea. The ship was built in 1991 in Italy for Costa Cruises as Costa Classica. In 2000, a planned lengthening and refit was cancelled at the last moment. She was renamed Costa neoClassica in 2014, then left Costa fleet in 2018 when sold to Bahamas Paradise as Grand Classica. Since May 2022, the ship has been sailing as Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, after the cruise line announced a partnership with Margaritaville Resorts & Hotels.
The Seven Stones reef is a rocky reef nearly 15 miles (24 km) west of Land's End, Cornwall and 7 miles (11 km) east-northeast of the Isles of Scilly. The reef consists of two groups of rocks and is nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) in breadth. They rise out of deep water and are a navigational hazard for shipping with 71 named wrecks and an estimated 200 shipwrecks overall. The most infamous is the Torrey Canyon in 1967, which was at that time the world's costliest shipping disaster, and to date, still the worst oil spill on the coast of the United Kingdom.
A CHANT was a type of prefabricated coastal tanker which was built in the United Kingdom during the Second World War due to a perceived need for coastal tankers after the invasion of France. Some CHANTs were adapted to carry dry cargos. These were known as the Empire F type coasters.
Lightship 2000 was a restored old red lightvessel with a cafe and chapel on board situated in Cardiff Bay. During the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay, the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation called together the churches in Cardiff to discuss the role of Christianity in the Bay. Lightship 2000 was the result of these discussions.
Philip and Son was a shipbuilder in Kingswear, near Dartmouth, Devon, England. Operating from 1858 until the late 1990s, the company provided employment opportunities for nearly 141 years for many people of Dartmouth. It was Dartmouth's last industrial shipyard. A documentary film, Philip and Son, A Living Memory, presents the story of the industrial shipyard from its beginning to its eventual closure.
MS Wawel is a ferry launched in 1979 as the Scandinavia. She spent a large part of her career serving the Dover-Calais cross channel ferry route with successive operators. She is currently in service with Polferries as Wawel.
The Bahama Bank Lightship was a Lightvessel stationed on the Bahama Bank east of Ramsey Bay, Isle of Man.
Lagaren is a historic iron-hulled ship that formerly served as the Swedish lightvessel steamship No. 17 Svinbådan and was subsequently used as a workshop vessel and a schoolship. In 2010 the ship was flagged in the United States and since 2013 has been impounded in Santa Cruz, Tenerife in relation to a drug smuggling case.
