LED Port Lighting for the Cuxhaven Ferry Terminal

Robust LED luminaires withstand extreme harbour conditions

LED port lighting is put to the test in the harshest environments – right at the harbor basin. Saltwater, sun, wind, storms, and ice push both technology and materials to their limits. NORKA’s ZUG LED fixtures reliably meet these challenges. Even under the toughest conditions, they provide optimal visibility, safety, and protection for people and equipment. With their saltwater-resistant, long-lasting design, they meet the highest standards for maritime applications and deliver energy-efficient lighting around the clock.

The port town of Cuxhaven benefits from its convenient location directly at the mouth of the Elbe River where it flows into the North Sea. Traditionally a fishing and ferry port, in recent years the expansion as a location for the offshore industry has provided for growth. But when hurricanes sweep across the coast in autumn or winter, it is sometimes called “flooded land”: Then the edge of the port and everything associated with it is submerged under water – including the lighting installed on the quay wall.

The fact that the luminaires are regularly submerged for up to six hours because of the tides is just one of the many stresses that luminaires face in such exposed environments. Equally challenging are the wash of the waves or the water pressure from the thrusters of berthing ships as well as the direct and also reflected UV radiation from the water surface on sunny days and additionally the mechanical impact from flotsam and ice. As luminaire failures pose a serious safety risk, robustness and reliability are at the top of the requirements specifications of the operating company Niedersachsen Ports (NPorts), which is gradually switching its ports to LED lighting in the interest of sustainability.

Universal lighting solution for ports

The ZUG LED tubular luminaires from NORKA, the specialist for technical lighting under difficult ambient conditions, play a major role in this technology change. As a uniform, universal product solution, they replace very different conventional luminaires in various application situations: To illuminate the navigation aids at the entrance to Cuxhaven port as well as in the recesses built into the concrete of the quay wall, in other ports such as Emden or the wharf the island of Wangerooge as well as inland, for example at the locks on the North Sea Canal.

NORKA uses the ZUG LED, a tubular luminaire with a diameter of 75 mm, as its base product. The opal emergency luminaire with tube is made of impact strengthened PMMA polymer, which is seawater-resistant due to an added coating. This extremely robust design complies with the IP65, IP66 and IP67 protection ratings, is resistant to pressurised water up to 20 m according to the IP68 protection rating and is suitable for cleaning with high-pressure cleaners due to the high IP 69K protection rating. The fully encapsulated electrical connection ensures that no water can enter the luminaire housing through the supply cable. The luminaires are flexible to install, each with two mounting clamps, so that the medium beam light distribution can be aligned with the target surface by turning the luminaire tube. For the applications in the port environment, the planners chose particularly sturdy clamps made of corrosion-resistant stainless steel.

Efficient and sustainable

To protect the sensitive coastal fauna, especially insects, NORKA supplies the luminaires with warm white LEDs (< 3000 K). At the wharf on Wangerooge, the island in the specially protected Wadden Sea National Park, amber LEDs and dimmable drivers are even used to minimise the influence of lighting on the natural environment – a substantial contribution to the nature conservation and sustainability goals of NPorts.

With the ZUG LEDs in the design tailored to the application, NORKA therefore provides port operators with an all-round sustainable lighting solution. Their versatility in turn saves on work and therefore cost in procurement logistics: A benefit for both shipping and the environment.