Lamplighters News

The U.S. Coast Guard completed operation Spring Restore Tuesday, five days ahead of schedule. Spring Restore involves the re-installment of 1,216 federal navigational aids, including lighted and unlighted buoys and beacons. Due to a light ice year, crews were able to commence the operation on March 14, two full weeks earlier than normal. Seven aids-to-navigation teams and five cutters, with additional support from the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation and the border lakes Lamplighters, participated in the operation. Crews also assisted the Canadian Coast Guard with the placement of multiple weather buoys on Lake Ontario. Additionally, several challenges were overcome during the operation.

Coast Guard aids to navigation teams throughout the Ninth Coast Guard District has begun restoring the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway aids to navigation system. Slightly more than 11 percent of the operation has been completed so far. Operation Spring Restore involves placing approximately 1,216 navigational aids, including lighted and unlighted buoys and beacons. Roughly half of the aids in the region are taken out of service during the winter months due to decreased vessel traffic and to minimize damage from ice and inclement weather. This is known as Operation Fall Retrieve.

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw returned to Chicago on December 3, 2016 as this year’s “Christmas Ship” loaded with 1,200 Christmas trees. Each year, the Coast Guard partners with the Chicago Christmas Ship Committee to participate in the two-day event depicting the annual Chicago tradition from the early 1900s, combining the trip with the cutter's annual aids-to-navigation mission as part of Operation Fall Retrieve. This annual operation affects 1,233 lighted and unlighted buoys and beacons throughout the Great Lakes.

Coast Guard aids to navigation teams throughout the Ninth Coast Guard District completed restoring the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway aids to navigation system, Friday, following a late start to the operation due to the extended ice season. Operation Spring Restore involves restoring approximately 1,222 navigational aids, including lighted and unlighted buoys and beacons. Roughly half of the aids in the region are taken out of service during the winter months due to decreased vessel traffic and to minimize damage from ice and inclement weather. This is known as Operation Fall Retrieve.

In anticipation of the coming ice season and to ensure the safety of vessels transiting the Great Lakes Basin, earlier this week the Coast Guard 9th District began its annual retrieval of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System seasonal aids to navigation, the largest domestic ATON recovery operation in the U.S. Operation Fall Retrieve, which affects lighted and unlighted buoys and beacons, commenced Tuesday with a goal of retrieving 1,278 navigational aids. The operation is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 28.

The Ninth Coast Guard District begins its annual retrieval of the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway System seasonal aids to navigation before ice forms. In a massive task Operation Fall Retrieve, which includes lighted and unlighted buoys and beacons has begun, with a goal of retrieving 1,282 navigational aids, and should be completed by Dec. 28, 2012. The aids, approximately half in the region, are taken out of service during the winter months due to decreased vessel traffic and to minimize damage from ice and severe weather. The Ninth Coast Guard District’s aids to navigation system facilitates safe and efficient maritime activity in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway region by marking safe passage for domestic, international, commercial and recreational vessel traffic.