The solution is to attach three flat surfaces at an angle of 120º to the back of the siren. Made of galvanised steel, the screen is reinforced to withstand the adverse meteorological effects of the area and it cannot be ignored that the Dique del Oeste has strong gusts of wind and also a significant swell.
The tests carried out so far, always during daylight hours, have had “satisfactory results”, says the APB. “We believe that we will have been able to mitigate the inconvenience to neighbours without endangering the lives of sailors at sea on foggy days,” says the APB. It has not reduced the sound decibels so it maintains a range of two nautical miles. We will have to wait for fog warnings to confirm whether or not the APB has found the solution.
Although other sirens of these characteristics were removed from the lighthouses of Cap Salines and Cala Figuera years ago, Puertos del Estado recommends keeping foghorns at the entrance to ports. “That is why we maintain the one at the Dique del Oeste in the port of Palma, the one at the mouth of the port of Maó and the one at the Botafoc lighthouse, at the entrance to the port of Ibiza,” says the APB. “In the ports of Alcudia and La Savina there are none and there are no plans to install them,” it adds.
The sirens at Cap de Salines and Cala Figuera broke down over time and as a result of the IALA 2012 which declassified the sirens as aids to navigation the APB opted to remove them and keep them. The one at the Ses Salines lighthouse is part of the Exhibition of maritime signals at the Portopà lighthouse, which can be visited by appointment by writing to [email protected].
