Falmouth Harbour Authority is installing a new generation of Blue Meadows smart buoys to mark sensitive habitats of seagrass and maerl around the harbour.
The new Port Notice Advanced Mooring System (PNAMS) markers have been designed, developed and installed by Mylor Mooring Services to prevent the mooring risers from scouring the seabed without the need for floats.
The new Blue Meadows marker buoys are part of a partnership between Falmouth Harbour and the Ocean Conservation Trust, Mylor Mooring Services and Cornwall Council.
They bring the total of markers in Falmouth Harbour and Bay up to 26, all in place to mark and protect around 30 hectares seagrass habitat which is easily damaged by vessels anchoring.
Mylor Mooring Services aim is to design, develop and install moorings which are top of their game in terms of vessel safety and security. The company also develops its buoys to have a minimal interference with the seabed.
We are acutely aware of the impacts we all have on the environment.
Ollie Hill, Mylor Mooring Services
“Blue Meadows has given us a great opportunity to work with like-minded partners on a project very close to our hearts,” explained Ollie Hill of Mylor Mooring Services. “We are acutely aware of the impacts we all have on the environment, and we are really proud to be able to add these buoys to our growing portfolio in this precious part of the world.
“We have identified a significant number of port notice buoys and other marine marks in the Fal and Helford areas all of which could be safely converted to our Port Notice AMS, and we look forward to future collaborations to support this environmental initiative.”
Falmouth Harbour’s environment manager, Vicki Spooner, added: “It has been a pleasure working with three very different organisations with a shared aim to raise awareness of seagrass and other sensitive habitats and to reduce the impacts on them of anchoring and mooring on the seabed.
“They ultimately contribute to our goal of increasing biodiversity within harbour waters. We need to ensure these habitats don’t just survive but thrive.”
