Marine aids-to-navigation are part of an increasingly complex maritime seascape, impacted by changes to vessels, navigable space and changes to legislation. GRAD works to understand how these external factors may impact our AtoN provision and how our AtoN are used by the maritime community.    

By understanding the different factors that impact maritime navigation, including geo-political, societal and technological developments, the team can guide and support the introduction of novel AtoN solutions.

As such, GRAD support the development of strategy and policy, operational plans for technology and consider the impacts of significant events such as climate change.  

Given the wide range of actors, we engage with national and international partners and stakeholders to help understand, shape and influence what the future maritime seascape will look like.

Climate change is projected to have significant impact across UK and Irish waters, presenting new challenges for at-sea operations.   It is likely to impact many aspects of GLA operations, from how we deploy AtoN to where we need to deploy them.  GRAD works with our GLA colleagues, and others, to research both mitigation options to reduce emissions and adaptation options to support future AtoN service provision.