Boating New Zealand - July 2018

76 Boating New Zealand

s the name suggests, Virtual Aids to

Navigation exist in an intangible world. hey

are markers – usually little blue diamonds –

that appear randomly on your chartplotter

screen. While they show the position of a

hazard, they are not physically on the water

• which is why you can’t see them.
  hey are used to indicate hazards that are diicult or
  impossible to mark with a conventional loating buoy – typically
  a submerged rock or reef, a wreck, a pipeline or an electric cable.
  If you hover the plotter’s cursor over a diamond, a pop-up text
  tells you what it’s marking.

hese virtual aids to navigation (also known as AToNs) have

been ‘installed’ all around the New Zealand coast – and while

many are geared to commercial shipping, owners of recreational

vessels equipped with AIS-capable chartplotters will also ind

the AtoNs on their screens.

he AtoNs are the creation of Vesper Marine – an Auckland

tech company specialising in electronic solutions to aid

maritime navigation. Its technology has become something of a

stellar New Zealand export story.

Following the company’s inception in 2007, Vesper’s

technology has been installed all over the world and today

is a vital component of navigation – not only in the global

A

feature

Virtual Beacons

WORDS BY LAWRENCE SCHÄFFLER

PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED