Unlit / extinguished
Also written: extinguished
A light, buoy or structure that is not showing its charted light.
"UNLIT" is one of the most common words in navigational warnings. A lighthouse, a lighted buoy or an offshore structure whose light has failed can no longer be identified at night, and a navigator relying on it could misjudge a position. The warning stays in force until the light is repaired, which can take months.
Unlit structures — a new wind-turbine foundation, a wreck, a platform — are hazards in themselves. Unlit aids-to-navigation warnings make up much of what the archive files under nav aids.
What the archive shows
5,666 messages in this archive use “Unlit / extinguished”, the earliest issued 1972-12-19 and the latest 2026-09-23. 74 of them are in force in the latest lists we collected. A hazard reported again and again counts once per message.
The largest yearly count is 1999, with 306 messages. Collection is incomplete between 2024-05 and 2026-08-17, so 2024, 2025 and 2026 are not comparable with fully collected years.
Nav aids accounts for 5,537 of 5,666 recorded messages (98%), the largest warning type group in this selection.
Located messages that use it fall in 65 sea areas; the most frequent are South Atlantic Ocean (1,252), North Sea (564) and North Atlantic Ocean (337).
Its use is spread fairly evenly through the year: the busiest month, January, has 577 messages and the quietest, July, 387.
By warning series: HYDROLANT 3,273, HYDROPAC 1,719, NAVAREA IV 446 and NAVAREA XII 165, and 8 more.
Messages using it, by year of issue
By month of issue, all years
Where it appears · 65 sea areas
In force now · 74
- AUSCOAST 301/26 · Nav aids · Timor Sea2026-09-22 · in force
CAPE HOTHAM LIGHT Q3315 IN POSITION 12-02.78S 131-17.37E UNLIT
Cape hotham light Q3315 in position 12-02.78S 131-17.37E unlit → - AUSCOAST 299/26 · Nav aids · Arafura Sea2026-09-21 · in force
DUYFKEN POINT LIGHT K3297 IN POSITION 12-34.15S 141-35.98E UNLIT
Duyfken point light K3297 in position 12-34.15S 141-35.98E unlit → - NAVAREA IV 902/26 · Nav aids · Caribbean Sea2026-09-18 · in force
CARIBBEAN SEA. GUADELOUPE. POINTE DU VIEUX FORT LIGHT 15-56.90N 061-42.46W. UNLIT.
Pointe du vieux fort light 15-56.90N 061-42.46W → - NOAAORR-11218 · Spills · Gulf of Alaska2026-09-14 · in force
…Klondike Express also caught fire (with no passengers on board); the fire has since been extinguished. All 2,000 gallons of diesel on the Klondike Express have been accounted for and no…
On september 14, 2026, the U.S → - NAVAREA XI 398/26 · Nav aids · Philippine Sea2026-09-07 · in force
…SHOTO. CHICHI SHIMA, FUTAMI KO NR.3 LIGHT BUOY, 27-04.9N 142-11.2E, L.L. VOL 1. 3225, EXTINGUISHED AND TEMPORARY LIGHT SET, FL G 4 SEC. CANCEL 0355/26.
Chichi shima, futami ko NR.3 light buoy, 27-04.9N 142-11.2E, L.L → - UKWZ 487/26 · Nav aids · North Sea2026-08-10 · in force
HUMBER. LINCS WIND FARM. 1. TURBINE LS52, 53-14.8N 000-30.0E, UNLIT. 2. CANCEL WZ 412/26.
Lincs wind farm →
How it reads in recent messages
- HYDROPAC 2747/26 · Nav aids · Timor Sea2026-09-22
TIMOR SEA. AUSTRALIA. CAPE HOTHAM LIGHT 12-02.78S 131-17.37E UNLIT.
Cape hotham light 12-02.78S 131-17.37E unlit → - HYDROPAC 2736/26 · Nav aids · Arafura Sea2026-09-22
GULF OF CARPENTARIA. AUSTRALIA. 1. DUYFKEN POINT LIGHT IN 12-34.15S 141-35.98E UNLIT. 2. CANCEL HYDROPAC 2725/26.
Duyfken point light in 12-34.15S 141-35.98E unlit → - NAVAREA II 337/26 · Nav aids · North Atlantic Ocean2026-09-21
AGADIR. AIDS TO NAVIGATION. LIGHT UNLIT. CAP HADID LIGHTHOUSE 31-41.85N 009-39.86W ADMIRALTY DIGITAL LIST OF LIGHTS AND FRENCH…
Aids to navigation → - NAVAREA 7 258/26 · Surveys · South Atlantic Ocean2026-09-15
…- 19.2 S 014 - 07.2 E SAIPEM 12000 5. 4NM EXCLUSION ZONE AROUND RIGS DUE TO PRESENCE OF UNLIT ANCHOR MARKING BUOYS 6. CANCEL NAVAREA VII 250 OF 2026 7. UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
NAVAREA VII 258 of 2026 : (15 sep 26) 1. south atlantic ocean - ne sector 2. angola, namibia 3. charts san… →
Earliest in the archive
- NOAAORR-6216 · Spills · Gulf of Oman1972-12-19
…Both vessels caught fire, and were abandoned by their crews. The Horta Barbosa fire was extinguished within a day. The Sea Star drifted SSE, leaking burning oil from a forty-foot hole in…
Gulf of oman →
Often in the same message
Related terms
- Light characteristic
- The coded description of a light — FL W 10 SEC 8 METERS 8 MILES — giving its rhythm, colour, period, height and range.
- Off station / missing buoy
- A buoy that is not in its charted position — dragged, damaged, missing or removed.
- Inoperative / unreliable / off air
- An aid or radio service is not working as charted or published.
- Until further notice
- The operation or danger has no scheduled end; the warning stays in force until a later message cancels it.
Warning types that use it
- Nav aids — Lights extinguished, buoys off station, RACON/NAVTEX outages.
Counts cover the messages in this archive that use the term, recounted 2026-09-24; see coverage for what is collected and since when. Not for navigation — follow official NAVAREA and coastal broadcasts.