Gwynt y Môr Windfarm: Weekly Progress Report, 24th September 2012

This is a summary of the weekly notice of operations for the Gwynt y Môr Offshore Windfarm issued on 24th September 2012 to harbour masters and sea users.  This notice describes progress with construction, recent operations, work planned for the next 7 days, and provides a list of vessels operating on the site with their contact details.

Wind Farm Construction Status

Progress with construction progress is illustrated in a map here, and summarised below:-

• Monopiles: 28 installed, 132 remaining
• Transition pieces: 25 installed, 135 remaining
• Export cables: 1st cable being layed from Pensarn Beach to OSP East 9.985km have been laid, 11.708km remaining.
• Array cables: work not commenced

There are presently three exposed monopiles, which are a potential hazard to navigation.  These are illustrated in a map here and detailed in our previous notice here.

Work carried out over past 7 days

The following work has been carried out in the past week:

• Stanislav Yudin continued foundation installation duties assisted by support vessels Anglian Monarch, Smit Angola and Union Boxer.
• Penrhos Bay and Malltraeth Bay have been used as a Crew Transfer / Stand by vessels when required, running out of Conwy Marina or Deganwy.
• Colwyn Bay, Tremadoc Bay, Kinmel Bay and Penryn Bay utilised as Crew Transfer / Stand by vessels as required and based at Liverpool Marina.
• Choice has been on guard vessel duties (see Notice to Mariners 13 here).
• Cable barge Cable Enterprise has been in the wet basin for repairs at Cammell Laird ship yard while support vessels guard the area at sea where the cable plough is in wet store.
• DP Vessel Sentinel continues with site clearance operations at the windfarm (see notice here).
• Smit Barge 12 has been on standby in Vittoria Dock.
• Viking Barge 5 has been transporting components to site, assisted by tugs Smit Buffalo, Smit Beluga & Union Boxer.
• Viking Barge 3 has been transporting components to site, assisted by tugs Smit Buffalo, Smit Beluga & Union Boxer.
• Toisa Warrior continued with grouting operations, following Stanislav Yudin‘s transition piece installation programme.
• Terramare 1 continued with diving operations (see Notice to Mariners 18 here)
• Frederiche Ernestine completed mobilisation at Cammel Lairds No 5 dock and sailed to site on 21st September to commence jacking trials.  Vessel arrived at site and took up position outside GyM boundary until permission to enter granted.
• Commissioning continued at the East and West substations.

Work planned for next 7 days

The work planned for the next 7 days on the site is:

• Stanislav Yudin will continue installation of monopiles and transition pieces, supported by Smit Angola, Anglian Monarch and Union Boxer.
• Penhros Bay and Malltraeth Bay will continue to be utilised as Crew Transfer / Stand by vessels, running out of Conwy Marina or Deganwy.
• Tremadoc Bay, Colwyn Bay, Kinmel Bay and Penryn Bay will continue to be utilised as Crew Transfer / Stand by vessels, sailing from Liverpool Marina.
• Choice will remain on station as guard vessel.
• Cable barge Cable Enterprise to complete repairs at Cammel Laird.
• Support vessels Fairplay 27, Whalsa Lass and MCS Ailsa will continue guarding the cable plough and export cable at sea.
• DP Vessel Sentinel will commence site clearance operations in the windfarm area (see Notice to Mariners 16 here).
• Viking Barge 3 and Viking Barge 5 will transport components to the windfarm area assisted by tugs Smit Buffalo, Smit Beluga, Union Boxer & Union Emeraldon a regular basis.
• Toisa Warrior will continue grouting operations as transition pieces are installed at Gwynt y Môr Offshore Windfarm.
• DSV Terramare 1 will continue diving operations on site.
• Frederich Ernestine will continue to standby outside GyM until permission to enter and begin trials is given.
• Commissioning work on the east and west substations will continue, engineering teams transported out by Crew Transfer Vessels.

List of vessels at site for next 7 days

The vessels that will be operating on the site over the next 7 days and their contact details are given below.  We have linked up the vessel names to MarineTraffic.com so that with just one mouse click you can find out more about their current location and recent activity.