Gwynt y Môr Windfarm: Weekly Progress Report, 24th March 2014

This is a summary of the weekly notice of operations for the Gwynt y Môr Offshore Windfarm issued on 24th March 2014 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 is illustrated in a map here, and summarised below:-

• Monopiles: 160 installed.  Monopile installation is complete.
• Transition pieces: 155 installed, 5 remaining.
• Export cables: 4 export cables installed; installation is complete.
• Array cables: 42 array cables installed, 120 remaining.
• Wind Turbine Generators: 123 installed, 37 remaining.

Navigation Hazards

There are presently a number of navigation hazards in and around the windfarm area.  These include:-

• Unlit objects – there are presently 3 unlit transition pieces within the windfarm boundary.  The location of these hazards is shown in a map here.
• Exposed monopiles – there are currently 5 exposed monopiles, which may be submerged at certain states of tide.  Extreme care should be observed in the vicinity of these monopiles.  Advice about exposed monopiles is given in our previous notice here.

The location of these hazards is shown in a map here.

Work carried out over past 7 days

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

• Friederich Ernestine is at Gwynt y Môr wind farm continuing foundation installation.
  
• Wind Solution has remained at anchor position south of Gwynt y Môr, sailing into Liverpool for shelter as necessary (see our previous notice here).
• Caernarfon Bay, Abersoch Bay, Gardian 10, Colwyn Bay, Scirocco, Porth Dinllaen, Porth Cadlan, Santa Ana, EMS Viking and Chinook utilised as Crew Transfer Vessels when required sailing from Canada Dock 3.
• Penrhyn Bay, Gaillion, Gardian and Gardian 2 relocated to Port of Mostyn from Liverpool.
• CTVs Bayard and Bayard 5 have joined the project.
• Abersoch Bay & Tremadoc Bay are on 24 hour cover and being utilised by the Emergency Rescue Team sailing from RWE Pontoon Birkenhead.
• MCS Zephyr, Achiever and Cwind Alliance sailed from Huskissons Dock as required to assist with cable operations.
• Athenia, Adventure, Endeavour, Buzzard, Captain P, Commodore P, Kinmel Bay, Iceni Defiant and Iceni Victory CTVs sailed from Mostyn as required.
• Isadale  performed guard duties and was used as the Marine Mammal Observation vessel.
• Normand Tonjer has continued diving operations assisting Polar Prince as required.
• HBC Supporter continued diving operations at the wind farm.
• Polar Prince and Polar King continued array cable installation assisted by CTVs Rix Panther and Rix Tiger (see our previous notice here).
• Sea Jack and Sea Worker continued turbine installation, assisted by Sea Golf, Sea Bravo, Sea Echo & Bever (see our previous notice here).
• JB114 continued drilling operations in Gwynt y Môr windfarm assisted by Smit Barracuda and Union Diamond.
• Channel Chieftain VII, Cwind Challenger and Cwind Resolution continued refuelling operations on site based from Mostyn.
• Cable vessel Sia remained on standby.
• Sea Breeze and Sea Storm continued operations at Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm.
• Fugro Saltaire continued trenching operations and ROV survey work in Gwynt y Môr windfarm.
• Survey vessel Line continued surveys of array cable routes.
• Survey vessels Chartwell and Prince Madog continued survey operations at the windfarm.
• CTVs Bayard 2 and Bayard 5 joined the project.
• DSV Toisa Vigilant commenced operations at the windfarm.
• CTV Aberdaron Bay joined the project, working from Mostyn.
• CTV Cymyran Bay carried out trials at the windfarm ready to join the project.

Work planned for next 7 days

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

• Friederich Ernestine and support vessels will continue with foundation installation.
• Wind Solution will remained at anchor position to the south of Gwynt y Môr, sailing into Liverpool for shelter as required (see our previous notice here).
• Sea Jack and Sea Worker turbine installation vessels will continue with wind turbine installation (see our previous notice here).
• Caernarfon Bay, Abersoch Bay, Gaillion, Gardian 10, Colwyn Bay, Chinook, Scirocco, EMS Viking and Santa Ana will be utilised as Crew Transfer Vessels when required sailing from Liverpool Marina and Canada Dock 3.
• Abersoch Bay & Tremadoc Bay will provide 24 hour Emergency Rescue Team cover.
• MCS Zephyr, Achiever and Cwind Alliance will continue to sail from Huskissons Dock as required to assist with cable operations.
• Athenia, Adventure, Endeavour, Buzzard, Captain P, Commodore P, Kinmel Bay,  Iceni Victory, Iceni Defiant, Gardian, Gardian 2, Gaillion and Penrhyn Bay CTVs will be sailing from Mostyn as required.
• Normand Tonjer will continue diving operations including work with the Polar Prince to aid installation of array cables.
• HBC Supporter will continue diving operations.
• Isadale will continue performing guard duties and will be used as the Marine Mammal Observation vessel as and when required.
• JB114 will continue with drilling operations at Gwynt y Môr wind farm supported by Smit Barracuda and Union Diamond.
• Channel Chieftain VII, Cwind Challenger and Cwind Resolution will continue refuelling operations on site based from Mostyn.
• Cable vessel Sia will continue operations on site.
• Polar Prince will continue array cable installation with Polar King (see notice to mariners here) assisted by CTVs Rix Panther and Rix Tiger.
• Sea Breeze and Sea Storm will continue operations at site.
• Fugro Saltaire will continue trenching & survey operations at Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm.
• Survey vessel Line will continue surveying operations.
• CTVs Bayard 2 and Bayard 5 will continue to mobilise for the project
• Survey vessels Chartwell and Prince Madog will continue survey operations (see notice to mariners here).
• UXO vessel Suffolk Spirit will carry out UXO disposal at the windfarm (see our previous notice here).
• Survey vessels Confidante and Discovery will join the project and carry out survey operations.  Confidante will replace Prince Madog.

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.