The Department of Transport has been advised that geotechnical and geophysical surveys are being undertaken in the Irish Sea on behalf of McMahon Design and Management.

The survey work, which was scheduled to start on 1 June, will be completed by 1 September, subject to weather and operational constraints.

The geotechnical and geophysical surveys will involve the deployment of towed equipment from a survey vessel. The surveys will follow three cable routes — two roughly from Dublin to North Wales, and one from Wexford to South Wales — with start and end point locations detailed in Marine Notice No 33 of 2024, attached below.

Works will be conducted by the vessel Glomar Vantage (callsign HO3057) which will display the relevant lights and shapes.

As the survey vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre when surveying, all other vessels are kindly requested to keep a wide berth and navigate the area with caution. Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

See the Marine Notice attached for contact information, a map of the survey area and all relevant coordinates.

Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta (FST) will be undertaking both a geotechnical survey and geophysical survey for the Sceirde Rocks Windfarm Project in the Western Coastal Area (Connemara/Outer Galway Bay) and Atlantic Ocean, between Monday 15 April and Monday 10 June, subject to weather and operational constraints.

These surveys follow last September’s geophysical survey and will be undertaken by the multi-purpose offshore vessel Dina Polaris (callsign CQOF), which is fitted with a geotechnical drilling rig, and the research vessel Lady Kathleen (callsign EIXT2). Both vessels will operate up to 24 hours per day and will be displaying the appropriate lights and shapes.

During operations, the vessels will be restricted in their ability to manoeuvre. Therefore, passing vessels are requested to leave a wide berth during the deployment operations. Radio transmissions will be conducted with other seafarers to notify them of the operations. The vessels will be monitoring VHF Channel 16 at all times for safety purposes.

The equipment for each survey will be deployed within the bounds of the survey areas detailed in Marine Notice No 17 of 2024, attached below.

The Department of Transport advises that Hydromaster will undertake a geophysical survey campaign in relation to the Clogherhead Offshore Wind Farm off the coast of Co Louth.

The survey is expected to run from Monday 11 September to Saturday 18 November, subject to operational and weather constraints.

Works will be conducted by the Ros Áine (callsign EIZG5) using multi-beam echo sounders, sub-bottom profilers, side-scan sonars, magnetometers and ultra-high-resolution survey equipment.

Geophysical equipment will be both hull-mounted and towed. Typically, the towed cable lengths will be approximately four times the water depth that the vessel is working in while acquiring survey data.

The work will be conducted during daylight hours only. Throughout operations, the vessel will display the appropriate lights and shapes and will also be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre. Therefore, passing vessels are requested to leave a wide berth.

Radio transmissions will be conducted with other seafarers to notify them of ongoing operations. Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF radio channel 16 when navigating the area. The survey vessel shall monitor this channel continuously for safety purposes.

Coordinates and a map of the survey area as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 57 of 2023, attached below.

The Department of Transport has been advised by Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta (FST) that a geophysical seabed survey will take place in the Western Coastal Area (Connemara/Outer Galway Bay/Atlantic Ocean) between Tuesday 5 September and the end of October, subject to weather and operational constraints.

The work follows previously scheduled geotechnical and benthic surveys for the proposed Sceirde Rocks Windfarm in north Galway Bay off southwestern Connemara.

Surveying will be conducted by two vessels: the semi-SWATH catamaran Roman Rebel (callsign 2ICA5), and the Lady Kathleen (callsign EIXT2), a catamaran. Both vessels will conduct 24-hour operations and will display appropriate lights and signals.

During operations, the vessels will be restricted in their ability to manoeuvre. Radio transmissions will be conducted with other seafarers to notify them of the operations. All other vessels are requested to leave a wide berth during the surveys due to the nature of the operations and the work vessels’ limited manoeuvrability. Both vessels will be monitoring VHF Channel 16 at all times for safety purposes.

Coordinates of the survey locations as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 54 of 2023, attached below.

The Department of Transport has been advised by Codling Wind Park Ltd that a geophysical survey will be conducted in the shallow sub-tidal area of South Dublin Bay and also around the Pigeon Park area in the River Liffey channel.

The project works will commence on or around Monday 14 August and will continue through to early September 2023, subject to weather and operational constraints.

Survey operations will be conducted by the AMS Panther (callsign 2EHC2). This vessel will be conducting geophysical surveys for several days which may extend in the event of poor weather conditions.

Throughout the survey operations, the vessel will be displaying the appropriate lights and shapes as required under the COLREGS Rule 27(b). The vessel will be towing survey equipment and will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre during survey operations. All other vessels within the vicinity are therefore requested to leave a wide berth.

Coordinates and a map of the survey areas as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 50 of 2023, attached below.

The Department of Transport has been advised that a geophysical and geotechnical surveys is being undertaken by Green Rebel Marine in the Irish Sea to assess cable burial on behalf of MDM.

The survey work was anticipated to start on Monday 19 June and will be completed by the end of September, subject to weather and operational constraints.

Surveys will be conducted by two vessels: the semi-SWATH catamaran Roman Rebel (callsign 2ICA5) which will conduct 24-hr operations, and the Lady Kathleen (callsign EIXT2), a catamaran which will conduct 12-hr operations. Both vessels will display appropriate lights and signals.

As the survey vessels will be restricted in their ability to manoeuvre when surveying, due to the deployment of the towed survey equipment from the vessel for the duration of the survey activities, other vessels are kindly requested to keep a wide berth.

Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

Coordinates and a map of the survey areas as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 40 of 2023, attached below.

The Department of Transport has been advised that a geophysical survey will be undertaken in the north Celtic Sea, south of Co Cork, for equipment testing and training purposes.

The operations are subject to weather and operational constraints but are anticipated to start in early December 2022 and be completed by late January 2023.

The survey will be conducted by the survey vessels Roman Rebel (callsign 2ICA5) and Lady Kathleen (callsign EIXT2), the former on a 24-hour basis and the latter on a 12-hour basis.

These vessels will be restricted in their ability to manoeuvre when surveying due to the deployment of the towed survey equipment, which could be up to 200 metres astern of the vessels. The vessels will display appropriate lights and signals.

All other vessels operating in the area are requested to leave a wide berth. Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area as outlined by a map and coordinates in Marine Notice No 82 of 2022 attached below, which also has contact details.

Haven Offshore Array will be completing geophysical survey works off the Donegal coast as part of a scientific data gathering exercise for the renewable energy project from this week to around 24 December, weather permitting.

However, please note that the start date and the duration of the activity are weather dependent. These will be 24hr operations 7 days a week.

Research vessel DP1 Ondine Jule (callsign EIZH4) will carry out the work on a 24/7 basis. The vessel will be towing geophysical equipment during operations and the vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre.

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

Communication on marine band radio frequencies will be conducted with other ships and vessels to notify them of the operations for the duration.

Coordinates and a map of the survey operations as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 59 of 2022, attached below.

EGS International Ltd is undertaking a geophysical survey campaign for a proposed offshore wind farm and associated export cable corridor centred around Sceirde Rocks, off the west coast of Ireland near Galway.

The survey was set to commence last week on Friday 10 June and will continue throughout June, July and possibly into August, weather permitting.

The operations will take place in two locations: the Wider Array Site off the coast of Connemara and the Export Cable Corridor (ECC) to the west of the Aran Islands and towards the coast of Co Clare.

The work is being conducted by the EGS Ventus (callsign V7119), which will display the appropriate day shapes/signals and lights as required by the COLREGS and maintain a continuous listening watch on VHF Channel 16 and Digital Selective Calling (DSC).

The vessel will be towing survey equipment astern at 4 knots, which will restrict its ability to manoeuvre. All other vessels operating within this area are requested to keep their distance and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

Contact details, coordinates and maps of the survey areas are included in Marine Notice No 36 of 2022, attached below.

Elsewhere, Fugro is engaged in a geotechnical site survey campaign for wind farms in the South Irish Sea (off the Wexford coast) and North Celtic Sea (off the Waterford coast).

Operations were expected to begin on Sunday 12 June and will continue till approximately Tuesday 28 June, weather allowing.

The work is being conducted by the Normand Mermaid (callsign LAXH7) on a 24-hour basis. The vessel will display appropriate lights and markers.

For further details see Marine Notice No 35 of 2022, also attached below.

The Department of Transport has been advised of a geophysical marine route survey operation taking place in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean off Galway and Mayo from next week.

The survey activity will take place within the Irish TS, Irish CZ and Irish EEZ and is scheduled to begin today, Monday 7 June for completion some five months later in early November, weather permitting.

The survey will be conducted by the RV Ridley Thomas (callsign V7JK2) which will undertake 24/7 cable route operations.

Survey operations will include the stern deployment of a sonar towfish tethered with steel cable at varying water depths, to collect geophysical/bathymetric mapping data for a proposed undersea telecommunications cable.

The vessel will be monitoring VHF channels 16 and 13, and will display appropriate lights and signals. All vessels operating within the survey areas are requested to keep their distance, maintaining a safety zone around the survey vessel and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

Full details of the survey, including relevant coordinates, are included in Marine Notice No 35 of 2021 which can be downloaded below.