🔍 Key Concepts

• IALA Maritime Buoyage System and the meaning of special purpose buoys • The standard color used internationally for buoys that mark areas such as recreation zones, anchorages, pipelines, or traffic separation schemes • Difference between color of the buoy and color of the light it may show

💭 Think About

• Think about what makes a buoy clearly recognizable as "special" or "non-lateral" (not marking port or starboard sides). What single, simple feature is used worldwide? • Consider where you might see special purpose buoys (e.g., anchorage areas, spoil grounds, no-wake or cautionary areas). What color are these usually in charts and on the water? • Ask yourself whether the light color (if any) on a special purpose buoy is always the same, or if only the body color is standardized.

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify in the IALA Buoyage System what color is assigned to special purpose buoys (e.g., anchorages, fish farms, traffic separation, spoil grounds). • Confirm whether special purpose buoys are required to have a specific light color, or whether only their body color is fixed. • Eliminate any answer choices that clearly belong to lateral marks (port/starboard/channel marks) rather than special purpose marks.