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IALA International Association of Lighthouse Authorities. A uniform system of maritime buoyage which is now implemented by most maritime nations. Within the single system there are two buoyage regions, designated as Region A and Region B, where lateral marks differ only in the colors of port and starboard hand marks. In Region A, red is to port on entering; in Region B, red is to starboard on entering. The system is a combined cardinal and lateral system, and applies to all fixed and floating marks, other than lighthouses, sector lights, leading lights and marks, lightships and large navigational buoys. The USCG Light List discusses details of the IALA systems. Cardinal marks are illustrated in the booklet Chart No. 1. The region in effect is shown on any electronic navigational chart (ENC) as a meta object, Navigational system of marks (M_NSYS)

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