Home | The origin of today's IALA A and IALA B system

The origin of today's IALA A and IALA B system

Why is port marked in red in one country and in green in another? It's not a coincidence, it's history.

Until the 1970s, more than 30 different buoyage systems coexisted around the world, with no common standard between countries. This lack of standardisation led, in 1971, to a chain of fatal accidents in the Dover Strait: several vessels, one after another, struck the same wreck, which had already been marked.

Following these accidents, IALA (International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation) worked on a single, unified buoyage system for the whole world. But imposing a radical change on systems already established in each region wasn't feasible, so a compromise was reached: two regions, IALA A and IALA B, sharing the same cardinal marks, isolated danger marks, safe water marks and special marks, but with the colours of the lateral marks reversed between them.

On 15 April 1982, the agreement that made this system official was signed in Paris, joined by 53 nations, launching the worldwide harmonisation of buoyage that remains in place today:

IALA A (Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania): red to port, green to starboard.
IALA B (the Americas, Japan, the Philippines and Korea): green to port, red to starboard.

At Almarin we are members of IALA, and we design and manufacture certified buoys for both systems.

>> Discover our full range of modular buoys and find the solution suited to your project here.

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information about The origin of today's IALA A and IALA B system

Events

From 06/10/2026 to 08/10/2026 Location: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 10th ATPYC National Congress
From 06/10/2026 to 08/10/2026 Location: Brest, França Sea Tech Week 2026
From 03/11/2026 to 06/11/2026 Location: Paço de Arcos, Portugal Regional Technical Seminar by IALA-WWA and the Portuguese Lighthouse Authority – Aids to Navigation

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Updated: 04/02/2026.

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7. LEGAL ACTIONS, APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND JURISDICTION

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These clauses have been drawn up by GRUP QUALIA.

Updated: 04/02/2026.

Cookies Policy

WHY DO WE NEED YOUR EXPLICIT CONSENT TO USE COOKIES?

The AEPD’s Guide about the use of cookies of July 2023, with the contribution of information and criteria of the European Data Protection Committee (EDPC) criteria, the GDPR-UE-2016/679 –articles 5th, 6th, 7th and 13th-, and the LOPDGDD-3/2018 -article 6th-, must be interpreted in the sense that consent is only be valid when it is explicit.

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MINOR’S CONSENT: The GDPR-UE-2016/679, article 8th, exposes applicable conditions to the consent of the minor in relation to the services of the information society. 1. Where Article 6.1.a) applies in relation to the direct offering of information society services to children, the processing of a child's personal data shall be considered lawful when the minor is at least 16 years old. If the minor is under 16 years of age, such processing shall only be lawful if and only to the extent that the consent was given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility or guardianship over the child. 2. The controller shall make reasonable efforts to verify in such cases that consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental or guardianship over the minor, taking into account the technology available. The data subject may exercise the rights of access, opposition, rectification, deletion, limitation and portability and has the right to lodge complaints with the corresponding supervisory authority.

WHAT ARE COOKIES?

Cookies are small data files that are received on the terminal from the visited website and are used to record certain browsing interactions on a website by storing data that can be updated and retrieved. These files are stored on the user's device and contain anonymous data that is not harmful to your computer. They are used to remember the user's preferences, such as the selected language, access data or personalization of the website or APP. Cookies or storage devices have traditionally been associated with web pages. However, they are currently used both on websites and on other types of platforms and applications (for example, APPs for smartphones and tablets).

Cookies can also be used to record anonymous information about how a visitor uses a site. For example, from which website/APP an access has been done, or whether a banner ad was used to get there. Information society services may be provided by the publisher through a platform, computer application or a website/App which the user accesses from their terminal equipment.

1. WHY DO WE USE COOKIES?

We use our own and third-party cookies to analyse the use of our website and display advertising with preferences based on a profile elaborated from the user's browsing habits. ALMARIN EQUIPOS Y SERVICIOS PORTUARIOS, SL, uses technical and analytical cookies for our website that will allow you to use secure areas, custom options, etc. In addition, ALMARIN EQUIPOS Y SERVICIOS PORTUARIOS, SL uses cookies that collect data related to the analysis of the use of the website. These are used to improve the service to the user by measuring the use and performance of the website, in order to optimise and personalise it. • Google’s cookies, ANALYTICS: Google ANALYTICS is a free service offered by Google Inc. that collects information about the consulted pages of the web, at what time, which web browser, etc. Subsequently, this information is sent to Google Inc. servers.

2. WHAT USE DO WE GIVE TO THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF COOKIES?

According to its purpose:

• Technical Cookies: These allow users to browse through a website, platform or application and use the different options or services. For example, those that serve to maintain the session, manage response time, performance or validation of options, use security elements and share content.

• Preference or personalization cookies: allow information to be remembered so that the user can access the service with certain characteristics that can differentiate their experience from that of other users, such as, for example, the language, the number of results to be shown when the user performs a search, the appearance or content of the service depending on the type of browser through which the user accesses the service or the region from which the user accesses the service, etc.

• Analysis or measurement cookies (analytics): allow the party responsible for them to monitor and analyse the behaviour of the users of the websites or Apps to which they are linked, including the quantification of the impact of advertisements. The information collected through this type of cookies is used to measure the activity of the websites, application or platform, in order to make improvements based on the analysis of the data on the use made by users of the service.

• Advertising Cookies: These are cookies that, processed by the web administrator (or APP) or by third parties, allow analysing the browsing habits on the Internet in order to show advertising related to the user's browsing profile. Advertising cookies allow the management of advertising spaces based on specific criteria. They store information on user behaviour obtained through the continuous observation of their browsing habits. This information allows developing specifics profiles to display advertising based on them. Types of cookies according to its term: • Session Cookies: These are designed to obtain and store data while the user accesses a website/APP. They are usually used to store information that is only of interest to keep for the provision of the service requested by the user on a single occasion (for example, a list of products purchased) and disappear at the end of the session.

• Persistent Cookies: They are those whose data keep stored in the terminal and can be accessed and processed for a period defined by the cookies’ controller, which can range from a few minutes to several years. In this respect, it is necessary to assess whether the use of persistent cookies is necessary, since the risks to privacy can be reduced with the use of session cookies. In any case, when persistent cookies are installed, it is recommended to reduce their temporary duration to the minimum necessary according to the purpose of their use. The legal obligations imposed by the regulations are twofold: the obligation of transparency and the obligation to obtain the explicit consent of the user of the website / APP user. In accordance with the nature of the business activity, the business model that is being developed and the scope of the controller’s responsibility, it is recommended to carry out a review of the cookies that are used, either internally or through the advice of specialized entities. This review will aim to identify the cookies that are being used, analysing whether they are own or third-party cookies, session or persistent, and specifying their function to decide whether or not they are framed in the scope of application of article 22.2 of the LSSI. Taking into account the possible changes that may occur in the management and use of cookies, it is advisable to carry out this review periodically in order to update the information available on these cookies. In any case, it is necessary to take into account the convenience that the solutions that are implemented to comply with the obligations of art. 22.2 of the LSSI have to be technologically neutral and, therefore, must be solutions that most browsers recognise.

3. LINK FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF COOKIES:

It is advisable that the information displayed through which cookies are managed (including how to revoke consent and delete cookies) shall be permanently accessible through the website, application or online service in question. For these purposes, and without prejudice to other solutions that may be adopted, this requirement shall be deemed to be met when the cookie management system (configuration panel or a CMP, which allows website or App owners to obtain, manage and disseminate the consent of consumers) and which is integrated into the cookie policy itself or when a link leading directly to the management system or configuration panel is included in this policy.

AEPD Guide, 3.2.10. Possibility of denial of access to the service in case of refusal of cookies: There may be certain cases in which the non-acceptance of the use of cookies prevents access to the website or the total or partial use of the service, provided that the user is properly informed about it and an alternative, not necessarily free, access to the service is offered without the need to accept the use of cookies. These cookies, must comply with the RGPD-UE-2016/679, the, LOPDGDD-3/2018, the regulations of the LSSI-CE-34/2002, update, 09/05/2023, and the GUIDE on the use of cookies of July 2023, of the AEPD with criteria of the CEPD.

ONLY COOKIES IN USE:

The cookies have been allowed, among others, when visiting the page:

DOMAIN	COOKIE	OWNER	FUNCTION	EXPIRATION
www.almarin.es	cookiesAccepted	Own	Saves the user's acceptance of the use of cookies	Persistent
	ASP.NET_SessionId	Own	Identification of user preferences	Session
almarin.es	_ga	Google Analytics	Statistics, stores and counts viewed pages	Persistent
	_ga_*	Google Analytics	Statistics. Store and count viewed pages	Persistent
	_gat_gtag_UA_*	Google Analytics	Statistics. Stores a unique user ID.	1 minute
	_gid	Google Analytics	Statistics. Store and count viewed pages	Persistent

EXTERNAL COOKIES IN USE:

Some of the cookies in use:

DOMAIN	COOKIE	OWNER	FUNCTION	EXPIRATION
google.com	AEC	Google	Security	Persistent
google.com	APISID	Google Ads Optimization	Analytics	Persistent
google.com	HSID	Google Ads Optimization	Security	Persistent
google.com	NID	Google Ads Optimization	Marketing. Store user preferences to provide ad serving or retargeting.	Persistent
google.com	SAPISID	Google Ads Optimization	Analytics	Persistent
google.com	SEARCH_SAMESITE	Google Analytics	Functional. Prevents the browser from sending this cookie together with requests from other webs	Persistent
google.com	SID	Google Ads Optimization	Marketing and tracking	Persistent
google.com	SIDCC	Google Maps	Security. Provides trusted web traffic identification	Persistent
google.com	SOCS	Google	Remembers a user's cookie selection	Persistent
google.com	SSID	Google Ads Optimization	Analytics	Persistent
google.com	__Secure-1PAPISID	Google	Advertiser Measure ad performance and provide recommendations	Persistent
google.com	__Secure-1PSID	Google	Advertiser Measure ad performance and provide recommendations	Persistent
google.com	__Secure-1PSIDCC	Google	Advertiser Provides ads relevant to the user	Persistent
google.com	__Secure-1PSIDTS	Google	Advertising and analytics. Memorizes the user's preferences in the search engine	Persistent
google.com	__Secure-3PAPISID	Google	Advertiser Provides ads relevant to the user	Persistent
google.com	__Secure-3PSID	Google	Cookie necessary for the use of the options and services of the website	Persistent
google.com	__Secure-3PSIDCC	Google	Advertiser Provides ads relevant to the user	Persistent
google.com	__Secure-3PSIDTS	Google	Show advertising relevant to the user's interests	Persistent
linkedin.com	bcookie	Linkedin	Browser identification cookie used for diagnostic purposes	Persistent
linkedin.com	lang	Linkedin	Remembers the language version selected by the user of a website	Session
linkedin.com	li_gc	Linkedin	Stores the user's consent for the use of non-essential cookies	Persistent
linkedin.com	lidc	Linkedin	Preferences. To provide load balancing functionality.	Persistent

If it is decided to modify the access settings of the website, it is necessary to be aware of the possibility of having to delete cookies or prevent this information from being recorded on the computer at any time by modifying the configuration settings of the browser:

These browsers are subject to change or modification; so it cannot be guaranteed that they will be completely adjusted to the version of your browser. To avoid mismatches, it is possible to access directly from the browser options, which are usually found in the Options menu, in "Privacy" section. (Please see your browser's help for more information).

WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?

You can find more information about cookies in www.allaboutcookies.org or www.youronlinechoices.com.

These clauses have been drafted by GRUP QUALIA, so you are granted a certificate in digital image format so that you can display it on your website.

Updated: 04/02/2026.