Channel Markers

These are used to indicate the port and starboard limits of a narrow channel that has been dredged in a river or the approaches to a harbour, to allow safe passage of large vessels. The waters outside the channel may be shallow or conceal rocks and other hazards to navigation, which could result in a vessel running aground and sustaining serious damage. Entrances to harbours or breakwaters may utilise different distinguishing characteristics, eg, white flashing lights. Please seek advice from your local marine authority.

Types of Markers

Two types of marker are used to indicate, respectively, the port and starboard limits, and these may be either fixed or floating as follows:

The positioning of the two types of marker relative to each other is determined by the general direction taken by a vessel when entering a harbour or proceeding upstream. Under this convention a vessel entering the Port Adelaide River, for example, would keep the port hand (red) markers on her port side, and the starboard hand (green) markers on her starboard side. When leaving the harbour or proceeding downstream, of course, the situation is reversed, so that the port hand markers should now be passed on the vessel’s starboard side and vice-versa.