Hydrosphere has supplied a Vega VLB-2 beacon to Hamnavoe Marina in the Shetland Islands to help guide fishermen in to safety during the hours of darkness. The marina opened five years ago after an investment of around £870,000 and the beacon which will be positioned on the end of the breakwater is the latest improvement.
“The VLB-2 is a recent addition to Vega’s LED marine beacon range,” explained Jeff Gibson, Sales Director of Aids to Navigation company, Hydrosphere. “It’s a high capacity, self-contained solar light which is designed to provide 2NM performance and is very suited to high latitude applications.”
He added: “During the winter months as the marina is so far north, the sun is very low in the sky and there are only around five hours of daylight. The solar panels are designed to catch as much light as possible.”
And already the light is exceeding expectations said Mr Gibson with a large power reserve in the battery.
“We were able to set it to the full two miles range due to its excellent solar and battery capacity. This high power capacity and energy efficient optics make the light very suited for a fixed or high duty cycle character or for use in high latitudes or partially shaded locations that have proved problematic for other lights.”
As well as being used for marking the end of breakwaters, the VLB-2 is also suitable for fixed characters on the end of marina pontoons and is available in five colours – red, green, white, yellow and blue – with 246 flash characters and one customisable flash character setting.
The full article can also be read on the Boating Business website.
