Keeping track of distance and specific geographic locations while boating through an enormous body of water can be challenging. Boundary beacons are clearly defined buoys that float on the water and are fixed at even increments to indicate distances, usually in miles or kilometers. Thus, when people are steering boats or ships across the water, they can see the beacons and know, from the marker, how many miles away they are from the shore of a given country. This can also help different ships communicate regarding weather hazards that are occurring at certain mile markings. By announcing the mile markings where certain storms are raging, other ships can be warned to avoid those respective areas.
Many problems can occur while traveling in a boat. If the boat becomes impaired and can no longer operate correctly or if other emergency hazards arise, people in the boat may be required to call out to shore or to other ships through radio to ask for assistance. However, because boats are relatively tiny compared to the huge bodies of water they travel on, it can be difficult for rescue operations to find a boat in need of help. Thus, if the boat in distress knows what general distance mark they are located at, they can communicate their location to the rescue ship so the ship can more easily and more quickly find the boat and provide assistance.
Because most boundary beacons permanently remain outside and on the water, the beacons are constantly exposed to natural elements, such as intense winds, pounding waves and powerful storms. Thus, after an extended period of time the natural elements and weather conditions can damage or sometimes completely destroy the beacons. As a result of the damage, the boundary lines created by the beacons often become less visible and hard to distinguish in the water by passing boats, which greatly impairs the effectiveness of the beacons.
Sometimes the countries responsible for installing the boundary beacons make human mistakes and miscalculations regarding the specific intervals at which the beacons should be set. If the beacons are placed too far from one another, too close to each other, or at inconsistent intervals, the distances that the markings indicate become inaccurate and unreliable. If the distance indications are wrong, this can mislead and cause problems for the boats who were depending on the beacons to help locate their specific position on the water or to help guide them to a certain area of the water.