Mariners are advised that the offshore windfarm operator RWE has updated its guidance for mariners operating within its three offshore windfarms in Liverpool Bay: North Hoyle, Rhyl Flats, and Gwynt y Môr. The purpose of the guidance is to support safe operations, coexistence and cooperation between mariners and the windfarm operators.
The full guidance can be downloaded here and is summarised below.
Safety
The guidance note provides information about safe operations within the windfarm arrays. Some of the key points are:
- Safety zones may be established around turbines when maintenance operations are being carried out. These may extend to 500m from the area of operations.
- Access to, mooring to, or attaching items to any of the offshore structures within the windfarms is strictly prohibited at all times.
- Crew Transfer Vessels have been instructed to keep clear of any vessels displaying lights or shapes to indicate that they are engaged in fishing, as well as from angling vessels.
- To facilitate safe access by maintenance vessels, mariners are asked to maintain a safe distance of at least 50m from turbines for vessels and equipment.
- Hazards – the windfarm operators will monitor the cables and seabed within the site and notify mariners of any identified hazards.
All operational CTVs will monitor VHF Channel 16.
Mariners are advised that this is a brief summary of the safety guidance which can be accessed here.
Communication protocol
Mariners are asked to contact the relevant windfarm operator before entering the windfarm site. This will ensure that mariners are updated about any hazards or operations in the site, and also that the operators and vessels they may have on-site are aware of the presence of other mariners. Contact details for each site are:-
- Gwynt y Môr: 07827-244495
- Rhyl Flats: 01793-896250
- North Hoyle: 0800-9756660
If contact between site vessels and mariners is required, site vessels will communicate on VHF Channel 16 before swapping to a private channel if necessary.
Information about the current and proposed maintenance activities on these windfarm sites is circulated in e-mail bulletins, along with Notices to Mariners about any hazards. You can find a list of all recent updates here, and sign up for free updates here.
Information about windfarm locations
The location of the Liverpool Bay wind farms, wind turbines, and substations can be found in Kingfisher (KIS-ORCA) Awareness Charts for:-
- Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm here.
- Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm here.
- North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm here.
The KIS-ORCA charts are advisory and should not be used for navigation. All current and corrected UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) charts show the locations of the windfarms in Liverpool Bay. All of the paper and electronic charts are availalbe from the UKHO website (www.admiralty.co.uk).
Fishing plotter files can also be downloaded from the KIS-ORCA website for most types of plotter (here). This site includes detailed guidance on installing the downloads in different types of plotter (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.