Roadstead

A roadstead (or roads – the earlier form)[lower-alpha 1] is a body of water sheltered from rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.[3][4] It can be open or natural, usually estuary-based, or may be created artificially.[5] In maritime law, it is described as a "known general station for ships, notoriously used as such, and distinguished by the name".[6]

Ormos Ammoudi, Santorini, Greece
Santa Elena bunkering (or possibly unloading) Kriti Jade at Birzebbuga roadstead, Malta

Definition

A roadstead can be an area of safe anchorage for ships waiting to enter a port, or to form a convoy. If sufficiently sheltered and convenient, it can be used for the transshipment of goods, stores, and/or troops; or, for the transfer of same to and from shore by lighters.[3][lower-alpha 2] In the days of sailing ships, some voyages could only easily be made with a change in wind direction, and ships would wait for a change of wind in a safe anchorage, such as the Downs or Yarmouth Roads.

Notable roadsteads

See also

Notes

  1. Charts and nautical publications often use roads rather than roadsteads.[1] Roads is the earlier term.[2]
  2. For example, in the Second World War, many merchant ships and many troops arriving at the UK were unloaded/disembarked from ships anchored at the Tail of the Bank in the upper Clyde estuary.[7]

References

  1. Walker, George K. Definitions for the Law of the Sea: Terms Not Defined by the 1982 Convention. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012.
  2. Little, William; Fowler, H W; Coulson, Jesse; Onions, C T; Friedrichsen, G. W. S. (1983). The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Volume II) (3rd ed.). London: Book Club Associates. p. 1838.
  3. United States Army technical manual, TM 5-360. Port Construction and Rehabilitation. Washington: United States. Government Printing Office, 1964.
  4. Oxford Dictionaries: Definition of roadstead in English
  5. Roadstead: Extensive Definition
  6. Black's Law Dictionary: What is roadstead?
  7. Robins, Nick (21 January 2014). "Clyde Anchorages Emergency Port". Scotland and the Sea: The Scottish Dimension in Maritime History. Seaforth Publishing. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-4738-3441-5.
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