Buoy

Figure from the article " Bakan "
("The Military Encyclopedia of Sytin ")

Buoy

Baken , bakan ( Dutch baken ) - a floating sign, mounted at anchor ^[1] to indicate navigational hazards along the line of vessels or to enclose fairways ^{[2] [3]} .

In the lateral navigation system, mean

• white or black, cone-shaped - restricts ship passage from the left bank
• red, cylindrical - from the right bank
• striped beacon shows the turn point of the ship

In Russian river terminology, “buoy” means a wooden floating sign. A metal (plastic) floating sign is called a “ buoy ”. The right “edge” of the fairway (ship) is indicated by the red (“ball”) beacon, the left - by the white (“pyramidal”). Buoys, unlike buoys, are set, as a rule, in areas with a "low" intensity of shipping. At the points of “separation” of the fairway, “pair” beacons are set — “white” and “red”, or “motley” (dividing) buoy. The buoys are duplicated by milestones of the corresponding color.

At night, a fire of the appropriate color is usually lit on a beacon. Near settlements (in places of mass congestion of lights) it is allowed to replace white fire with green.

The signs of the lateral system used in the setting of sea channels differ somewhat from the signs of the “river” lateral system.

In a cardinal system are placed about dangers. May be duplicated by milestones .

The lighting on the buoys is predominantly electric, usually powered by special batteries . Sometimes the buoy is equipped with an audible warning device.

At the end of navigation, the buoys are removed so as not to damage them when the rivers freeze. For reference points of the navigational situation, the so-called ice (buoy-cigar) buoys and milestones remain on the water.