Northern Lighthouse Board

Northern Lighthouse Board is the General Lighthouse Authority for the waters around Scotland, the Shetlands, the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. It was created by an Act of Parliament under King George III in 1786.

The Board began a programme of automation of its Lights in the late 1960s and began helicopter operations around mid 1970s, with some of the more remote Lights having helicopter platforms built atop the towers. It has small fleet of Lighthouse Tenders which support helicopter operations from their decks. Its programme of automating its 200 or so Lights was completed in 1998, with Fair Isle South being the final one.

In Oct 2014, a 7 year shared services agreement was concluded between the Board, Trinity House and the Commissioners of Irish Lights (contracting as the General Lighthouse Authorities of the United Kingdom and Ireland) and PDG Helicopters, to commence in Dec 2015.