Perception Survey on the Necessity of Improvement for the Standard Buoys Fouling Maintenance

Abstract

In 2001, about 20 years after the introduction of the standard buoys, the natural environment and maritime traffic flow changes in the waters near Korea and the necessity of improvement of the AtoN (Aids to Navigation) maintenance was suggested. The IALA provides guidelines for maintenance and management of AtoN, and Korea provides guidelines for the management and operation of standard buoys by means of the Enforcement on the AtoN laws. The objective of this study was to investigate the installation status and the repair status of the standard type buoys by sea area in order to improve the management and operation of the steel standard buoys. In addition, a survey was conducted on the improvement of the steel buoy fouling and the improvement of the lifting inspection cycle towards on the AtoN managers and producers of the representative authority by sea area. In the case of LL-26 (M) buoy type, the standard type buoy installation status of Korea in 2017 was 57.1%, and the LL-26 (M) type was 58.9% showing the highest repair rate. According to the results of the survey on buoys fouling, 51.2% were caused by the attachment of shellfish, and 43.2% were caused by bird feces. The results of the survey on the improvement of the regular buoy inspection cycle showed that the measures are to maintain the current inspection period of 2 years regardless of the characteristics of the sea area (water depth, inside and outside port, buoy size, etc.).

Fig. 1 The number of repaired buoys by sea area, and the rate of repaired buoys by buoy types

Fig. 2 LL-26(M) type buoy lifting work(top) and attached shellfish(bottom)

Fig. 3 Buoys fouling cause and severity

Fig. 4 Shellfish attachment problems and severity

Fig. 5 Perception survey on proper regular inspection cycle by situation

Table 1 Installation criteria by lighted buoy types in 2017

Table 2 Installation criteria by unlighted buoy types

Table 3 Installation status of standard buoys by sea area in 2017

Table 4 Repair status of standard buoys by sea area during 2015~2017

Table 5 Repair items of LL-26(M) type buoy by sea area during 2015~2017

Table 6 Information of survey respondents

Table 7 Perception survey on necessity of introducing proper regular inspection cycle by situation