SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — The Coast Guard is ready to provide an update on the conversion of light house foghorns.
The Coast Guard is in the process of updating Maine foghorns that were designed to automatically activate in the presence of fog. It says newer technology activated by mariners via marine radios is safer and more effective. It also tends to result in fewer of the foghorns' familiar blasts.
The Coast Guard already has converted eight light houses in Maine and New Hampshire, and plans to convert 17 more in Maine.
The plan eventually will leave Maine with no more of the old-time foghorn activation systems.
Capt. Michael Baroody, Coast Guard commander in northern New England, says the old fog detectors "are prone to failure, expensive to maintain and require specialized training to preserve."
