Vermilion Exploration & Production Ireland Limited will begin a maintenance campaign at the Corrib Gas Field subsea infrastructure from tomorrow, Friday 1 October.

The maintenance works at the Corrib gas field will take place at Latitude 54° 20’ 20.413” N, Longitude 11° 03’ 30.769” W and are due to last for up to 21 days.

The Edda Sun (callsign LARF7) will undertake the subsea scope of work. All equipment used will be vessel and/or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) mounted. The vessel will be listening on VHF Channel 16 throughout the project.

Mariners are asked to note that visual surveys will be conducted along the Corrib pipelines and umbilicals using vessel mounted ROVs and their associated camera booms. No acoustic survey equipment will be utilised during the campaign.

For further information on the survey area, see Marine Notice No 51 of 2021 which can be downloaded below.

The next SeaMonitor survey will be carried out by the RV Celtic Voyager in the North Channel from tomorrow, Wednesday 29 September.

This latest stage of the project aims to deploy 80 acoustic listening stations (ALSs) across the North Channel from Malin Head in Ireland to the Isle of Islay in Scotland between over four days, concluding on Saturday 2 October.

These stations will allow recording the presence of tagged marine wildlife including salmon, seals, cetaceans, basking shark and skate species, and provide evidence for conservation measures.

The SeaMonitor project is already ahead of schedule, as previously reported on Afloat.ie, with researchers from Nova Scotia in Canada carrying out expert field work using large-scale acoustic telemetry equipment.

This week’s survey operations will be carried out during daylight hours to facilitate a safe deployment of acoustic receivers on the seabed. The RV Celtic Voyager (callsign EIQN) will display appropriate lights and signals throughout.

For details on relevant locations and contact information, see Marine Notice No 54 of 2021 which can be downloaded below.

Alpha Marine will be undertaking a reconnaissance survey in the Irish Sea off the Wicklow coast to provide background information informing future site investigation works for phase two of the Arklow Bank Wind Park.

The works, which will include magnetometer surveying, are anticipated to start between now and the end of October 2021 and will last for approximately three days, weather dependent.

The survey activities will be undertaken by the multi-purpose crew transfer vessel AMS Panther (callsign 2EHC2).

As this vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre when surveying, other vessels are requested to keep a wide berth. The vessel will be operating 12 hours per day during survey works.

Specifics of the survey locations and relevant contact details are included in Marine Notice No 50 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.

A pair of scientific deep-sea moorings have been redeployed at the Goban Spur off the southwestern continental shelf.

Further to the relevant Marine Notice posted in June 2020, the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has successfully recovered moorings EB-1 and EB-3 and redeployed them at new coordinates. Recovery is planned for 2022.

Both are free-falling moorings anchored by ~1,000kg bottom weights. Scientific instruments are attached at different depths to ropes and chains. Sub-surface floatation bodies will keep the moorings upright.

As this is sensitive scientific equipment, it is kindly requested that fishermen and marine operators engaged in such activities as bottom trawling or laying of static gear avoid the locations concerned to avoid damaging the equipment or damaging fishing gear.

Mariners should take note that neither of the moorings has a surface element or surface buoy. Top elements and floatation bodies have orange colours. The shallowest elements are located at depths of 700m (mooring EB-1) and 450m (mooring EB-3).

The top elements of both moorings carry radio and iridium beacons that only signal once the top element is at the surface.

Details of the locations of these dee-sea moorings and contact information are included in Marine Notice No 49 of 2021, which is available to download below.

The Department of Transport has issued a new Marine Notice on the correct use of lifejackets or personal flotation devices (PFDs) on fishing vessels.

It follows the report earlier this month from the Maritime Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) into the sinking of the FV Alize off Hook Head early last year.

Two fishermen died after the FV Alize sank while fishing for scallops out of Duncannon, Co Wexford on 4 January 2020.

Joe Sinnott was recovered from the scene by the Irish Coast Guard’s Waterford-based helicopter Rescue 117 but was later pronounced dead at University Hospital Waterford.

The body of skipper Willie Whelan was found trapped behind equipment on the deck of the sunken vessel and was recovered by divers on 28 January 2020.

The MCIB report concluded that the FV Alize capsized and sank quickly and without warning while hauling its final trawl, most likely due to a stability issue.

It determined that the boat was operating below its optimum level of three crew, and that the two fishermen on board were not trained in stability awareness and likely fatigued after 36 hours at sea.

In addition, it found that the two crew’s likelihood of survival was reduced by not having any time to respond and broadcast a distress message — but also by not complying with safety regulations which mandate the wearing of a lifejacket or personal flotation device.

Marine Notice No 48 of 2021 (which can be downloaded below, and which supersedes No 34 of 2017) reminds all fishing vessel owners, operators, skippers, crew and course training providers that every person on board a fishing vessel must wear a suitable PDF when in deck (or, in the case of an open undecked vessel, at all times on board).

Such inflatable PFDs must be worn over, not under, all items of clothing and should be fitted with a hold-down deice such as a crotch strap or thigh straps.

The MCIB report also recommends warning owners and operators of small fishing vessels (under 15m in length overall) of “the hazards associated with trawling, including beam trawling and scallop dredging”, and that the relevant Code of Practice for the design, build and operation of such vessels be updated “to reflect the importance of periodic examination and testing of lifting equipment”.

Meanwhile, it’s recommended that the Minister for Transport should adopt Actions 9 stated in the Maritime Safety Strategy in respect of stability standards, stability criteria and crew training for small fishing vessels.

Kinsale Energy will undertake vessel-based subsea ROV/removal operations in the Kinsale Head and Seven Heads Gas Fields from later this month.

The works are part of its decommissioning campaign on subsea infrastructure across the two gas fields, and are due to commence on or around Monday 23 August for a period of 20 days, weather permitting.

Works will be conducted from the construction support vessel North Sea Giant (callsign LAYR7) which will be listening on VHF Channel 8.

Details of coordinates of these offshore operations are included in Marine Notice No 46 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.

Installation of the Havhingsten fibre optic telecommunication cable system is planned from Monday 23 August until Thursday 23 September in the Irish Sea outside of the Irish 12-nautical-mile zone.

Works within 12 nautical miles of Ireland’s mainland are planned from December 2021 subject to weather and operational conditions.

There will also be associated rock placement operations post-cable installation at four locations within the western Irish Sea and these works are expected in between October and December, weather permitting.

The entire cable system will comprise marine elements that pass from Denmark to the UK (NE region), and from the UK (NW) to Ireland, with two segments installed into landfalls on the Isle of Man. The cable route for the western Irish Sea region lands at Loughshinny in north Co Dublin.

Installation will be via industry standard burial tools including water jetting and ploughing. Target cable burial depth is 1.5m below seabed level in the region.

It is anticipated that installation operations in UK/Irish waters will occupy up to a maximum 500m width (250m either side of cable). The cable itself will occupy only 40mm of the seabed. Expected speed of installation will be approximately 17km per day.

Works will be conducted by the cable installation vessel CS Recorder (callsign MATL3) which will operate 24 hours a day and will display appropriate day shapes and lights during reduced visibility and night operations.

All vessels operating within its vicinity are requested to keep their distance, and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

Full details, including coordinates for the work areas and rock armour placements, are included in Marine Notice No 45 of 2021 which can be downloaded below.

Following the Marine Notice two months ago on the deployment of wave buoys and a floating lidar buoy at the Dublin Array offshore wind farm, a new notice has been issued regarding the lidar buoy’s move to a fixed position.

Partrac Ltd will relocate the floating lidar buoy from its current temporary position at Kish Lighthouse to a new location in Bray Bank some time between this Wednesday 4 August and Tuesday 17 August, weather permitting.

The relocation is expected to take one day. The buoy will then remain in place for 18 months and a further Marine Notice will be issued providing information on the retrieval of the buoy.

The AMS Retriever (callsign MEHI8) will recover the buoy and tow it to its new location. During this work, the vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre.

As such, all other vessels operating within this area are requested to keep their distance, maintaining a safety zone around the AMS Retriever, and to pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

Further details including coordinates of the buoy’s new location are included in Marine Notice No 44 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.

The Department of Transport has issued an updated advisory over the risk of vessels becoming entangled in ropes used in pot fishing.

Marine Notice No 43 of 2021 supersedes No 10 of 2019 and reminds all vessel owners, agents, shipmasters, skippers, fishers, yachtsmen, seafarers and those engaged in pot fishing about the risks of vessels’ propellers becoming entangled in ropes of marker buoys used to indicate the position of pots used for fishing lobster, crab or other fish or shellfish.

This can occur because the length of rope used to fix marker buoys is too long, resulting in the line floating on or just below the surface.

The use of too long a line of rope can result in a situation where even vessels that have taken a wide berth around marker buoys could have their propellers fouled by the rope.

Specifically, the department reminds those engaged in pot fishing not to use unsuitable ‘floats’ (eg empty drink cans, plastic bottles, dark-coloured floats, etc) which offer poor visibility and/or could be mistaken for floating debris.

Fishers who carry out pot fishing (whether commercially or non-commercially) are reminded of their obligations to other users of the sea.

Furthermore, non-commercial pot fishers are reminded of the regulations made by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine covering such activity (SI No 31 of 2016 - Non-Commercial Pot Fishing (Lobster and Crab) Regulations 2016) which, inter alia, limits the numbers of pots permitted per boat to a maximum of six, and such pot fishing to the months of May to September.

Any mariners who spot any marker buoys/ropes (or any other object) in the water, which they deem to represent a danger to navigation, should communicate information on same to other vessels in the area and to the Irish Coast Guard or to the local competent authority so that a hazard warning can be issued if appropriate, and any required follow-up action can be taken.

A guide on good practice for pots and marker buoys is included in Marine Notice No 43 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.

The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport advices of a forthcoming rig move as part of Kinsale Energy’s subsea wells abandonment campaign running until the end of this year.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) Stena Spey (callsign GCWP) will be relocated from the Southwest Kinsale to the Seven Heads gas field this week, in or around Thursday 8 to Saturday 10 July.

Full details of the well locations and related activities are included in Marine Notice No 42 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.