A team of lighthouse specialists from the Punta Arenas Zonal Maritime Signaling Center completed the renewal of three navigation aid towers, located in the Bahía Azul area, Primera Angostura sector, in the northern area of Tierra del Fuego.
The work was carried out with a deployment to the isolated area, planning the removal of the old structures and their replacement, within the framework of the Proyecto Fénix of the Dirección General del Territorio Marítimo y Marina Mercante (Directemar). The institution coordinated the necessary resources for the development of the executed tasks.
The main objective of the coastal signals is to mark a reference point for the control of vessels transiting the area. These navigation aids are “Bravo” type priority, which implies that they may be out of service, but their reactivation must be a priority to guarantee safety on the navigation route.
The planning of the tasks required several phases, including the reception of the towers and their storage, acquisition of equipment and other elements, coordination with the Centro de Movilización de Magallanes dependent on the Base Naval Punta Arenas, as well as with the Grupo Aeronaval Sur for the transfer of equipment and parts to the specific work points.
Furthermore, the transfer and field deployment of the specialists from the Zonal Maritime Signaling Center was considered, where “the lighthouse keepers from the end of the world” had to set up a camp, which was essential for on-site coordination, habitability, and also storage, overcoming wind gusts of up to 50 kilometers per hour, rain, hail, sleet, low temperatures of up to -5 degrees and strong sun, characteristics of the changing weather in Chilean Patagonia.
The deployment to the operations site was bimodal, considering land travel from Punta Arenas to Punta Delgada, a connecting ferry crossing to the Bahía Azul area, and then continuing by land to the operations site, approximately 3 and a half hours from Punta Arenas.
The support of the Grupo Aeronaval Sur, through a naval helicopter, allowed the transport of the modular parts to the specific work points, operating by means of slung load transport, enabling the movement of the parts in hard-to-reach places for their subsequent construction.
New coastal signals
The newly installed towers are of modular construction. One of them is made of polyester, reinforced with fiberglass with an internal metal support structure 9 meters high and a rotating lantern with a range of 17 nautical miles. Likewise, the structure has a renewable energy source system composed of nickel-cadmium batteries with their respective photovoltaic panels.
The other two 3.5-meter signals do not have internal reinforcement and have an LED lighting system with a range of 9 nautical miles.
“This construction work represents a tremendous challenge, despite the difficult conditions of being in the field we are happy and proud, it is the work of every lighthouse keeper that is done with dedication, with high-tech towers that demand the utmost of our capabilities, thus providing a service in accordance with international standards that helps to be at the forefront with safer navigation routes,” detailed Sergeant Segundo Faro Cristián Toledo, deputy head of the Zonal Maritime Signaling Center.
