Mr Monkey went onto the bridge of the lightship. Obviously, turning the wheel had no effect on a ship that's not in the water but Mr Monkey tried anyway. Built in 1950 by Beliard, Crighton and Company of Ostende, West-Hinder II stopped ships running into a sandbank off the Flemish coast from 1950 until 1994, when it was replaced by an automatic beacon. It was the last of the Belgian lightships to be decommissioned.
You can read about the beacon which replaced the West-Hinder lightship at the Lighthouses Depot website.
Return to Mr Monkey aboard the West-Hinder II lightship
Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 6 November 2007