A notice to mariners advising of survey work on the proposed Western Link undersea power cable during September 2013 has just been published, and progress is being made with the installation of cable sleeve pipes at the Wirral landfall of the cable route. This bulletin provides an update on both activities.
Geophysical Survey in Liverpool Bay
A detailed geophysical (sonar) survey is due to be carried out on the nearshore section of the cable route in Liverpool Bay. The survey is scheduled to begin on 19th September 2013 (subject to weather conditions).
The survey work is due to be carried out by the vessel MV Chartwell. During the survey work the vessel may be deploying underwater survey equipment and have restricted ability to manoeuvre. Vessels are requested to pass at a safe distance.
The call sign for the MV Chartwell and a link to the vessel’s current location from MarineTraffic.com are given below:-
- Chartwell: survey vessel | Call sign MHGV6
The vessel will monitor VHF Channel 16 at all times.
Further information is given in the Notice to Mariners that can be downloaded here.
Offshore anchorage of cable sleeve pipes
Mariners are advised that insallation of the cable sleeve pipes has begun. The two pipes will be moved in turn from their mooring at the Port of Mostyn to the offshore anchorage at location 53°26.50’N 03°08.727’W. This location is marked with a lit yellow buoy.
Each pipe is 600m long and 450mm (18″) in diameter. Whilst at the mooring location, the pipes will be secured at one end, and will “windmill” around the mooring under the influence of wind and tide. The anchorage location is shown in the previous Notice to Mariners that can be downloaded here. Once the pipes have been installed the anchorage will be removed.
Further information about the installation procedure for these pipes is given in the Notice to Mariners here.
Installation schedule
Prior to installation the cable sleeve pipes will be moved one at a time from Mostyn to the offshore anchorage location, and then transferred inshore where they will be used to sleeve the power cables holes that will be drilled under the seawall and navigation channel by Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) equipment based onshore.
The proposed installation procedure is summarised below:-
- Week commencing 2nd September 2013: the barge Wilcarry 501 will mobilise to the beach off Leasowe. The pipe will be disconnected from its anchorage by the vessels Vixen and JetStar and towed to the Wilcarry 501, prior to being installed beneath the embankment and navigation channel.
- Week commencing 23rd September: the second pipe will be installed byWilcarry 501, Vixen & Jetstar using the procedure outlined above.
All of these dates will be subject to favourable weather conditions and are liable to change if the weather is inclement.
Vessel Details
Information about the vessels that will be involved in this work is given below. Where possible we have included a link to the MarineTraffic.com website so that you can see the current location of the vessels involved in construction with just one click.
- Wilcarry 501: Flat top pontoon.
- Vixen: tug | Call sign 2FJL9
- JetStar: shallow water jet workboat
Construction vessels will monitor VHF Channels 12 & 16. All other vessels are requested to give these vessel 500m clearance during construction activity.
The Western Link
The Western Link will be an undersea cable linking Ardneil in the Clyde with the Wirral in north-west England. Details of the project can be found on our website here.
If you have any queries about the Western Link project, please contact Jim Andrews, Fisheries Liaison Officer by e-mail or by phone on +44(0)7908-225865.