Squashed East Mid Grounds buoy

zlod

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Does anyone know what happened to the East Mid Grounds buoy? I sailed past it on Saturday morning and it looked like it had been squashed: as though some large ship had ploughed over the top of it. When I sailed back it had been replaced with a new version by a Trinity House ship.

DSC00549-1.jpg


If it had been squashed by a big ship then I find it a bit worrying: if ships are running over charted red flashing buoys then what chances do little floating bits of fibreglass with masthead lights have?
 
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I saw Galatea doing some work on the buoy, but didn't realise the reason for it. In fact I had assumed it was routine maintenance as they were working on Newcombe immediately afterwards. (Unless the same wayward ship ran that one down too.)
 
Does anyone know what happened to the East Mid Grounds buoy? I sailed past it on Saturday morning and it looked like it had been squashed: as though some large ship had ploughed over the top of it. When I sailed back it had been replaced with a new version by a Trinity House ship.

DSC00549-1.jpg


If it had been squashed by a big ship then I find it a bit worrying: if ships are running over charted red flashing buoys then what chances do little floating bits of fibreglass with masthead lights have?

What chance indeed,there was a tanker that ran up the beach on Flatholms a few years back.
 
I saw the damage on the way back from Bristol the Sunday before. Defiantly a lack of forward thinking there.
Allan
 
It seems highly likely it was damaged by an un-piloted ship, one that was shown on radar/ais to pass *very close*. Those under 85m entering Avonmouth/Portbury are below the pilotage limit,in common with nearly every UK/EU port.

The buoy was checked for possible paint to confirm this but only a 'generic antifoul' sample could be taken, the suspect ship was also inspected but non conclusive!
 
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