Final answer:
Powered vessels less than 39.4 feet (12 meters) must adhere to specific navigation light requirements to enhance safety and prevent collisions at sea. These include a red port side light, a green starboard side light, and a white stern light, all visible from at least one nautical mile. Navigation tables and formulas offer guidance on positional navigation, differing from navigation lights, which are for collision avoidance.
Step-by-step explanation:
For powered boats less than 39.4 feet, or 12 meters in length, specific navigation light requirements are established to ensure the safety of vessels operating at night or in poor visibility conditions. These regulations are vital to preventing collisions and providing a general understanding of vessel orientation and status. While the provided reference to the lighthouse serves as a fixed navigation aid warning vessels of hazardous areas, a moving powered vessel within the specified size range typically needs to showcase a set of lights that include a red port side light, a green starboard side light, and a white stern light that are visible within prescribed angles and distances. The port and starboard lights should be visible from a distance of at least one nautical mile for vessels under 12 meters in length, and the white stern light should have the same visibility range.
These lighting configurations allow other seafarers to ascertain the direction in which a vessel is moving, hence facilitating safe passage and navigation. Beyond visibility at night, during times of restricted visibility such as fog, these lights play a crucial role in alerting other vessels to one's presence. When it comes to navigating through the use of landmarks or celestial bodies like the sun, the navigation tables and formulas referenced offer a different dimension of nautical navigation, typically used for determining a vessel's position at sea. However, this method is distinct from the use of navigation lights which are for collision avoidance during vessel operation closer to shore or amongst other seafaring traffic.