Roadstead

A roadstead or road is a sheltered body of water where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching. Protected from rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell, a roadstead can be open or natural, usually estuary-based, or may be created artificially. In maritime law, it is described as a convenient or safe place where boats usually anchor.

Definition

A roadstead can be an area of safe anchorage for ships waiting to enter a port, or to form a convoy. If sufficiently sheltered and convenient, it can be used for the transshipment of goods, stores, and troops, either separately or in combination. The same applies in transfers to and from shore by lighters or barges.

In the days of sailing ships, some voyages could only easily be made with certain wind directions, and ships would wait for favorable winds on a roadstead such as the Downs near the English Channel, or Yarmouth Roads by the North Sea.

Notable roadsteads

See also

• Anchorage
• Battle of Copenhagen (1801), a naval battle fought at the roadstead of the Port of Copenhagen

Notes

References

External links

• Harbor Types of the World's Large Sized Ports Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Hofstra University site
• Ports and Ocean Distances, searoutes.com