Boaters traveling into Marquette will now have a safer ride in. The Coast Guard has installed a new navigational aid at the jetty at the end of the Marquette Harbor. This is the first sectored LED ever installed on a Coast Guard–maintained aid to navigation. Its 12–mile visual range is the same as the light it replaced, but the new one will appear to be brighter.

“It is from the degrees of 181 degrees to 198 degrees, which means if you are going south and you see that red light you are possibly going to run your boat around at the lighthouse point rocks. If you see that red light you might want to alter your course until you see the white light,” Petty Officer 2nd Class Gary Hegler said.

The independently controlled LEDs can be configured to create a flashing, rotating or a sectored lantern that flashes in one–degree increments. Something that was greatly needed.

“I am very happy because the old light we really couldn’t see as well as we were coming back into Marquette but right now it is perfect, it is perfect for everybody,” continued Hegler.

The light was installed by members of the Aids to Navigation Team Sault Ste. Marie.