Mariners are advised that two survey operations are due to be carried out off the North Wales coast within and around the Gwynt y Môr and Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farms during June 2023.
Notices to Mariners have been issued for each survey and these are summarised below.
1. Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm: Survey at 3 locations
Survey work is due to be conducted by the vessel Norfolk Swift at three locations within the Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm array, starting on the 12th of June 2023 for a period of 3 days (weather permitting). Details of this survey work are provided in a Notice to Mariners that can be downloaded here and is summarised below.
Location
Survey operations will be conducted at 3 locations:-
- Turbine B06C: 53.48517876°N 003.5491018°W (alternatively 53° 29.1107’N 003° 32.9461’W
- Turbine C06B: 53.47949139°N 003.56523288°W (alternatively 53° 28.7695’N 003° 33.914’W)
- Meteorological mast: 53.48073333°N 003.50836165°W (alternatively 53° 28.844’N 003° 30.5107’W
A map of the windfarm array including the exact location of all turbines and infrastructure is available from the Kingfisher website here.
Vessel details
The survey work will be carried out by the vessel Norfolk Swift which is a GRP catamaran workboat measuring 12m in length, 5m beam, with an orange hull. Information about this vessel including its current location can be found at the Marine Traffic website using the link below:-
- Norfolk Swift: Research / survey vessel | Call sign 2DHD7
The vessel will monitor VHF Channel 16 at all times.
During this survey the vessel will be towing equipment and will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre. Other vessels are requested to pass at a safe speed and maintain a wide berth of at least 500m distance.
Further details about the survey vessel are given in the Notice to Mariners which can be downloaded here.
2. Gwynt y Môr & Rhyl Flats: Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Survey
Bangor University will be surveying in two areas within and adjacent to the Gwynt y Môr and Rhyl Flats Offshore Windfarms with an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) over the period 15th-30th June 2023. Details of this survey work are provided in a Notice to Mariners that can be downloaded here and that is summarised below.
Survey details
The survey will be conducted using the AUV Gavia. This is a self-contained survey platform measuring 4.2m in length. It typically travels between 2m and 7m above the seabed, and has a maximum speed of 5.5 knots.
Exact details of the survey location are provided in the Notice to Mariners that can be downloaded here .
Vessels
The AUV will be deployed and recovered by the RV Prince Madog, and during the survey it will be supervised by the vessel Sarah Jane Too. RV Prince Madog is a 34m long research vessel with a blue hull and a white superstructure. Sara Jane Too is an 11m catamaran workboat with a pale blue hull and a white superstructure.
Information about these vessels including their current location can be found at the Marine Traffic website using the link below:-
- RV Prince Madog: Research vessel | Call sign ZNLI5
- Sarah Jane Too: Workboat | Call sign MFPR8
Further details about the survey vessels are given in the Notice to Mariners which can be downloaded here .
Notices to Mariners
Mariners are advised that the following Notices to Mariners have been issued for the Gwynt y Môr windfarm and export cable and remain current:-
- Gwynt y Môr offshore windfarm: risk of cable exposure – this notice was issued in September 2021. It advises mariners that there are areas where cables may be exposed within the windfarm array, and that these areas are subject to change in response to tidal and weather effects on the seabed. The information in this notice, as well as links to advice on fishing near cables and renewable energy structures and links to the cable array map for the windfarm can be accessed here.
- Blade maintenance operations, April-September 2023 – turbine blade maintenance operations that are being carried out within the Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm off the North Wales coast by technicians working from the vessel NR Panther from April – September 2023. Updates on progress are being issued regularly. The most recent can be accessed here.
Please contact Jim Andrews, Fishery Liaison Officer by e-mail or phone (+44(0)7908-225865) if you have any queries or concerns about this notice.