Saumarez Reefs Lighthouse

The Saumarez Reefs Lighthouse is located on North East Cay, which is part of the Saumarez Reefs, a coral reef system in the Coral Sea Islands, approximately 330 kilometers northeast of Gladstone, Queensland. The lighthouse is situated on a small sand cay that is enclosed by a coral reef and has a clear channel about 2.1 kilometers wide between it and the next reef to the south.

The lighthouse itself is a two-stage tower with a square frustum lower part and a square prism upper part with a balcony and light. It is constructed on a concrete base with a metal skeletal tower and is marked with a white tower. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is the managing agent of the lighthouse. The Saumarez Reefs were first reported by Europeans on 27 February 1823 by Lieutenant John Lihou aboard the vessel Zenobia and were named after Vice-Admiral James Saumarez.

The Saumarez Reefs Lighthouse has an interesting history, with the reefs being named after Vice-Admiral James Saumarez. The lighthouse is also notable for its location, which is near a conspicuous stranded wreck of an American Liberty ship, the Francis Preston Blair, which was used as a target for the Royal Australian Air Force F-111 aircraft during the 1980s. The lighthouse is still operational and is an important aid to navigation in the Coral Sea Islands.

Light and tower

It has a two-stage tower, square frustum lower part, square prism upper part with balcony and light tower. The tower is built of metal skeletal. Its daymark is white tower. The light has a focal height of 70 metres. The light has a range of 10 nautical miles. It is managed by Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The NGA list of lights numbers it 10300. The Admiralty list of lights numbers it K3015.