Where are our buoys?
Corilla Marine – Timeline
Corilla Marine started life in 1985 under the guise of Eason Marine, who worked with the Northern Lighthouse Board to create the world’s first Polyethylene navigation buoy.
During the next 25 years we became renowned for our knowledge and expertise in the field of maritime buoys. We were responsible for the world’s first split collar polyethylene buoy; allowing bigger plastic buoys than ever before to be developed, and were even invited over to advise the Chinese Ministry of Transport. We have since continued to work with leading maritime organisations such as PD Ports, the M.o.D. Royal Navy.
The History Mooring Buoys
Mooring buoys were first developed, with some difficulty – due to the effects of surface motion on the buoys – during the 1960s, to provide ships and boats with better and more complete use of harbour areas than traditional mooring methods had.
To begin with, these buoys were made from steel. This however, was not without its problems as the use of steel led to a variety of issues; rust being a major factor. Also, steel buoys, due to their weight, often have to be repaired whilst still at sea. Paint fades after prolonged exposure to sunlight, leading to the need for fairly regular repainting.
Benefits of Plastic
Plastic mooring buoys on the other hand, have none of these problems; they are cheaper – both to produce and to buy, don’t rust, need less maintenance, are more naturally buoyant and don’t damage vessels that hit them whilst mooring. Also, due to their lighter weight, they can be made larger for seaports without the issues of transit that steel buoys provide.
In addition to their economic and logistical benefits, polyethylene mooring buoys are also more environmentally friendly, in more ways than one. First of all, to recycle polyethylene costs considerably less and produces considerably fewer emissions than when recycling steel. Secondly, polyethylene mooring buoys are excellent for use in waters around coral reefs; allowing divers to moor at reefs without dropping anchor and potentially damaging the reef and surrounding microhabitat.
Plastic is quickly overtaking steel as the most intelligent material to use for mooring buoys and Corilla Marine’s rotationally moulded polyethylene mooring buoys are the very cutting edge of technology, used by some of the most prestigious maritime authorities in the world.
You get much more than just a buoy when you moor at Corilla!