OSV Master Fined Following Wind Turbine Allision
The master of a wind farm support boat has been made to pay £3,000 in fines and costs after breaching maritime collision regulations, informs the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Geoffrey Whinfrey was in charge of the Island Panther when it collided with a wind turbine in the Sheringham Shoal wind farm on 21 November 2012. Whinfrey had been requested by the wind farm operator - Scira Offshore Energy Ltd - that the Island Panther take off duty employees ashore due to the worsening weather conditions. It was dark and the wind was gusting up to 45mph, with driving rain and rough seas. Passage plans had not been completed for any part of the journey. Whinfrey attempted to navigate through the wind farm using the safety lights on the wind turbine towers, which is against company policy.
Master Fined After Wind Farm Collision
The master of a wind farm support vessel has today been made to pay £3,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to breaches of maritime collision regulations. Geoffrey Whinfrey was in charge of the Island Panther when it collided with a wind turbine in the Sheringham Shoal wind farm on November 21, 2012. Whinfrey had been requested by the wind farm operator - Scira Offshore Energy Ltd - that the Island Panther take off duty employees ashore due to the worsening weather conditions. It was dark and the wind was gusting up to 45mph, with driving rain and rough seas. Passage plans had not been completed for any part of the journey. Whinfrey attempted to navigate through the wind farm using the safety lights on the wind turbine towers, which is against company policy.
Norway’s Crown Prince Opens Offshore Wind Farm
Today His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway will officially open the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm built off the coast of Norfolk by owners Statoil and Statkraft. The Crown Prince will open the wind farm at an official ceremony at historic Holkham Hall in North Norfolk with support from UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey; Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Ola Borten Moe; Minister of Trade and Industry, Trond Giske; and the owners’ presidents and CEOs, Helge Lund from Statoil and Christian Rynning-Tønnesen from Statkraft. Sheringham Shoal is owned equally by Statoil and Statkraft through the joint-venture company Scira Offshore Energy Limited.
New Safer Vessel Transfer System
Scira Offshore Energy, operator of the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm, will utilise a new UK-designed vessel transfer system to provide its wind farm technicians with safe and reliable access to wind turbines in a range of weather conditions. The safe transfer of wind farm technicians from vessels to the turbines is a key challenge for the industry. This new transfer system, known as MaXcess and produced by Northumberland-based OSBIT Power Limited, has been chosen for Sheringham Shoal following extensive trials, including at Statoil’s Hywind demonstration floating wind turbine in Norway.
Tidal Transit Gets North Sea Offshore Wind Farm Charter
Scira Offshore Energy, the company developing the UK's Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm with its 88 turbines situated between 9-17 miles off the coast of North Norfolk, is to charter Eden Rose, one of Tidal Transit’s innovative wind farm personnel and equipment transfer boats, to service the site development. The Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm is the third major offshore wind energy project to be supported by Tidal Transit vessels. Immediately after her arrival in the UK from Spanish ship builder, Mercurio Plastics, Eden Rose went into operation for RES Offshore in Grimsby, servicing meteorological masts 60 miles out into the North Sea…
Sheringham Shoal Wind Farm Guard Vessel
A guard vessel is now in operation on the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm to ensure the safety of marine traffic around the foundation installation sites and along the export cable corridor. The 118-ft vessel, Jadi, has been contracted from UK-based marine solutions company, Offshore Marine Management. Her key role is to assist the heavy-lift vessel, Svanen, which is now installing the monopiles and transition pieces, by alerting other vessels such as fishing and sailing boats, of the location of its eight anchor buoys and ensuring they stay clear of the construction area.
Project Report: Sheringham Shoal Goes Offshore
On June 24, the first foundation was installed at sea for the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind project. Construction work on land is already well underway, and the 88-turbine wind farm is scheduled to start operation in 2011. The first of 90 monopile foundations was installed off the Norfolk coast by the heavy lift vessel “Svanen”. Over the next nine months, the vessel will install the remaining 89 foundations ready for the mounting of two substations and 88 wind turbines. “On land, we’re already well ahead, the substation is nearing its final form, and the onshore cable is nearly finished.
Cathelco ICCP for Concept Jack-Up
Cathelco is supplying an ICCP hull corrosion protection system for a new type of jack-up vessel which is being constructed for Master Marine of Norway who specialize in the transport and installation of heavy structures for the offshore energy industry. The vessel, known as Service Jack 2, will initially be used to install wind turbines in the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm which is located in the Greater Wash approximately 9 miles north of the town of Sheringham in Norfolk, United Kingdom.
