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A channel-side buoy whose colour depends on the region.
Also known as: Channel marker, Port hand mark, Starboard hand mark, Lateral buoy
Lateral marks show which side of a channel to pass, and the colour convention is reversed between IALA Region A and Region B. Red to port entering harbour in Europe becomes red to starboard in the Americas, which is the single most consequential international difference in navigation marking.
Marks the side of a navigable channel, its shape and colour telling a vessel which side to pass on.
Contexts: Navigation, Maps
Reverses between the two IALA regions: Region A, covering Europe, Africa, most of Asia and Australasia, puts red to port on entering, and Region B, covering the Americas, Japan, Korea and the Philippines, puts red to starboard.
Contexts: Navigation, Maps
Carries a shape distinction as well as a colour one — can-shaped for one side and conical for the other — so the mark is readable in poor light or by a colour-blind observer.
Contexts: Navigation, Maps
A floating mark of a flat-topped can shape or a pointed cone shape, painted one solid colour and carrying a matching topmark.