ALCOAST 291/25 - JUN 2025 2025 WORLD MARINE AIDS TO NAVIGATION DAY

R 301452Z JUN 25   MID120002045190U
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC
TO ALCOAST
BT
UNCLAS
ALCOAST 291/25
SSIC 16500
SUBJ: 2025 WORLD MARINE AIDS TO NAVIGATION DAY
1. The International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation
(IALA) is celebrating the seventh annual World Marine Aids to
Navigation Day on July 1, 2025. This event was created to promote
greater awareness of the vital role of marine Aids to Navigation
(ATON) and to celebrate the professionals who design, implement,
and maintain ATON. This year, the United Kingdom is hosting the main
event in London July 2 & 3. This year's chosen theme is The Role of
Physical Aids to Navigation in a Digital Future. During this event
IALA will bring together senior representatives of Government, the
wider maritime industry, Research and Development establishments
and academia, and international organizations such as the
International Maritime Organization (IMO). More
information about the event is located here:
(Copy and Paste URL Below into Browser)

https://www.iala.int/news-events/world-marine-aids-to-navigation
-day/world-marine-aids-to-navigation-day-2025/

2. Each day, Coast Guard crews demonstrate unwavering dedication by
maintaining over 45,000 buoys, beacons, ranges, and electronic aids,
which delineate 25,000 miles of waterways serving 361 ports within
the Nation's Marine Transportation System (MTS). Whether conducting
routine maintenance, addressing discrepancies, restoring navigation
after severe storms, or building an alternate navigation channel
after the 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge marine casualty this
committed workforce ensures the smooth operation of vital marine
commerce, valued at over $5.4 trillion annually.
3. In the past year, the Waterways Operations Product Line (WOPL)
and our Districts have responded to several hurricanes, expertly
partnering to rapidly restore waterways critical to maritime
commerce. WOPL also received $20M+ in supplemental funding to
rebuild ATON impacted by natural disasters. WOPL established a
foam buoy overhaul business line at Industrial Production Detachment
(IPD) Mobile for 5 x 9 Lighted Foam Radar Reflector buoys, with each
overhaul costing approximately 10% of acquisition cost and extending
asset service life for a minimum of six years. They also initiated
a project with the CG Research and Development Center to explore
sustainable foams for use in river buoys.
4. Dedicated to fostering innovation, the Coast Guard is optimizing
the efficient operation of the Nation's MTS while simultaneously
elevating navigational safety. Examples include: The Coast Guard
is transitioning ionomer foam buoys, integral to the ATON
constellation, from consumable to repairable assets alongside
traditional steel hulls, thereby curbing costs and minimizing
solid waste. The Coast Guard has adopted next generation lighting
technology that allows us to operate some of our largest and
brightest ATONs with smaller and less expensive LED lanterns
that don't require commercial power delivered by expensive
submarine cables or large solar arrays. Realizing increased
reliability of modern optics and power systems has allowed
the Coast Guard to increase service intervals while experiencing
fewer optic related discrepancies.
5. The U.S. ATON program completed a multi-year effort to transition
ATON and Marine Safety Information (MSI) into digital formats which
are transmitted to the three U.S. Hydrographic agencies (National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) and the USCG
Navigation Center (NAVCEN) for dissemination to mariners plying
the U.S. MTS. These datasets contain information which are
automatically ingested by cartographic software to update the
2000+ Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC) covering U.S. waterways.
The digitization of the seven volume Light List (L/L) and MSI
enables use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to display
critical information overlayed on the ENC. NAVCEN receives updated
MSI every 15 minutes and uses a GIS viewer to display the
information. The L/L can also be viewed on the same display
and is updated daily. Additionally, the individual datasets
are made available in formats which can be pulled by external
systems such as Electronic Charting Systems (ECS). It is estimated
that over 6000 vessels in the U.S. domestic commercial fleet
are using this capability and now have near real-time display
of MSI on their navigation screen. To put this into perspective,
the legacy weekly Local Notice to Mainers (LNM) has transitioned
into categorized MSI and is now refreshed on the navigation
screen of vessels underway within minutes of entry into USAIMS.
Later this year, we will provide MSI in the internationally
adopted S-124 Navigation Warnings format which goes into effect on
January 1, 2026.
6. I encourage all ATON professionals, past and present, to
celebrate your contributions to World Marine Aids to Navigation Day.
7. POC: ENS Braven Bolosan-Maeva, COMDT (CG-NAV-1),
Braven.A.Bolosan-Maeva@uscg.mil
8. Mr. Michael D. Emerson, Director of Marine Transportation
Systems (CG-5PW), sends.
9. Internet release is authorized.