Flensburg Fjord: Kalkgrund lighthouse unreliable

The Kalkgrund lighthouse in the Flensburg Fjord is still not in regular operation. After it was announced in May 2025 that the lighthouse was out of service, the Baltic Waterways and Shipping Authority (WSA) has now published an updated notification.

Special caution is still required when approaching the Flensburg Outer Fjord. As early as May last year, the Failure of the Kalkgrund lighthouse reported. The validity of the corresponding notification for seafarers (BfS) had expired on 31 December 2025.

Lighthouse in emergency mode

In response to an enquiry, WSA Ostsee has now announced that individual components of the beacon have now been successfully repaired. However, it is still being examined whether these measures will have a permanent effect. The lighthouse will therefore remain in emergency operation for the time being. In the meantime, the WSA has issued a new Bfs which points out that the Kalkgrund beacon is "unreliable until further notice". Shipping is requested to navigate the area with particular caution.

Parallel to the tests, the responsible departments are continuing to work on fully repairing the system and restoring regular operations, according to the WSA. A specific date for this has not yet been given.

Warning of the Kalkgrund shoal

The Kalkgrund lighthouse is located around 1.6 nautical miles north-northwest of the Geltinger Birk peninsula and warns of the Kalkgrund shoal, which extends between the location of the lighthouse and the mainland. It is part of the lighting system for the Kiel-Flensburg Way, which passes to the north of the tower.

Kalkgrund was the first fully automatic lighthouse in Germany to go into operation in 1963. Its height is 24.5 metres, the height of fire 22.9 metres. It serves as a leading and cross-marker light. The optical system, which is currently out of order, has a nominal range of 22 nautical miles in normal operation. The beacon consists of a common mode beacon with white, red and green sectors and a return interval of eight seconds.

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