Best colours for visibility at sea

[Leo Lazauskas]

Are there any good sources that discuss the best paint colours to use to
increase a ship's visibility at sea?

The attached picture shows the opposite of what I want.
The camouflage livery is fine for military vessels, but I want the
ship to be highly visible.
Angled panels reduce radar visibility, but I don't want to reduce it,
so vertical panels are Ok.

Would the "best" colour depend on the area of operation?
For example, one colour might be good for the (wine-dark) Aegean,
and others for more turquoise tropical waters.

Would fluorescent paints fade quickly?
Do UV and salt-water cause any significant problems?

Of course, there are aesthetic issues for some vessels, but I don't
see that as a problem for humanitarian relief and other "rescue"
vessels.

[Richard Woods]

I have always found yellow to be the most visible colour. Obviously not any blue or white. Red doesn't seem to be as good either, fades quickly and certainly doesn't work well in photos. Green boats are considered unlucky in the UK, and green also fades fast. Yellow tends not to cover well (I guess because of the limited use of heavy metals). Its only drawback

No science involved here though, just my eyes. When we did our Day Sail to Russia trip we had three boats, red, blue, yellow. The yellow one was always the most photogenic. See my youtube video of the trip

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

[PAR]

Back in the 70's (I think) the USCG preformed some research and changed from a "safety" red and yellow to the now standardized safety orange. They found the red difficult to find with a light and the yellow washed out in bright sun light, but the orange faired better then both in these conditions.

[Leo Lazauskas]

Originally Posted by Richard Woods

I have always found yellow to be the most visible colour. Obviously not any blue or white. Red doesn't seem to be as good either, fades quickly and certainly doesn't work well in photos. Green boats are considered unlucky in the UK, and green also fades fast. Yellow tends not to cover well (I guess because of the limited use of heavy metals). Its only drawback

No science involved here though, just my eyes. When we did our Day Sail to Russia trip we had three boats, red, blue, yellow. The yellow one was always the most photogenic. See my youtube video of the trip

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

Thanks, Richard. The yellow boat certainly stands out in those conditions.
Red wasn't too good.

I suppose there are also issues to do with the colour of the sky at the time
of the operation/rescue; whether the clouds are white or very dark, how
much foam is flying around, etc.

Of course, if we wanted maximum visibility by male sailors only, we could
paint a very simple figure on the side of the boat, or attach a figurehead.

[Richard Woods]

Black is of course the most visible colour at night (but then Herrishoff said "there are only two colours for a boat, black and white and only a fool would have black")

I haven't found the high vis orange to stay hi vis orange for long in sunlight

Aren't most tank test models yellow? They were when I was a student

Pink is quite photogenic against a green (eg deciduous tree) background

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

[Leo Lazauskas]

Originally Posted by Richard Woods

I haven't found the high vis orange to stay hi vis orange for long in sunlight

Does it fade all the way to white?
Or to a cream/yellow?

Originally Posted by Richard Woods

Aren't most tank test models yellow? They were when I was a student

I can't recall having seen any other colour used for tank models.

[rxcomposite]

Orange with black seems to be a favorite for workboats.

[michael pierzga]

My eye picks up ORANGE at sea. If its a sailing yacht and you need high visibility when operating in shipping lanes, paint the top 2 meters of your rig ORANGE. Orange storm sails are a good addition. SOLAS pin stripe tape is also valuable on top mast and roller foils. At many angles your steaming light or masthead light illuminates it.


I would be interested in finding out if the aluminiumized fiberglass cloth enhances radar image ?

[Leo Lazauskas]

Originally Posted by rxcomposite

Orange with black seems to be a favorite for workboats.

Thanks, rx.
Is there a big difference in the cost of the various colours?

[michael pierzga]

Hmm.... Cost ?

[Leo Lazauskas]

Originally Posted by michael pierzga

Hmm.... Cost ?

And not just the initial cost, but the on-going outlay
which depends on fade rates and deterioration rates.
Not simple, I guess.

[Ad Hoc]

Originally Posted by rxcomposite

Orange with black seems to be a favorite for workboats.

Indeed it does.

[Olav]

Originally Posted by Leo Lazauskas

And not just the initial cost, but the on-going outlay
which depends on fade rates and deterioration rates.

I know there are unsolved (unsolvable?) problems with the UV resistance of luminous red (RAL 3024), a colour that is used by many rescue organizations including the German Lifeboat Institution DGzRS with their colour scheme of white hull, green deck, and white/luminous red superstructure. On their latest lifeboats the DGzRS replaced the otherwise luminous red areas with "traditional" flame red (RAL 3000), as RAL 3024 fades away too quickly in the sunlight. Only small stripes are still in RAL 3024, see here (new 20 m rescue cruiser class) and here (23 m class featuring the "old" colour scheme for comparison). By the way, theses stripes are now stickers for easy replacement and no longer painted on.

During the 1970s the DGzRS carried out extensive tests with various colour schemes and eventually came up with the scheme as above.

[Leo Lazauskas]

Originally Posted by Ad Hoc

Indeed it does.

Attachment 64596 Attachment 64597

And yet the bottom part of the turbine towers are yellow.

[michael pierzga]

Cost is insignificant. only tall structures must be high definition. The topsides of a vessel are under the horizion at two or more miles.