The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport advises that Kinsale Energy will undertake diving operations at the Kinsale and Seven Heads Gas Fields for decommissioning on and around the subsea infrastructure.

These works are due to commence on or around Monday 10 May and are estimated to last 25 days, weather depending.

Diver operations will be conducted by the dive support vessel Deep Discoverer (callsign C6EB7) which will be listening on VHF Channel 13, and will take place in the locations listed in Marine Notice No 25 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.

The Department of Transport advises that a survey will take place at several offshore reefs and sandbanks off the North West Coast from next Friday 23 April to Tuesday 4 May.

Survey works with marine robots in support of the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme will take place within a three-nautical-mile radius of six shipwrecks, the coordinates of which are included in Marine Notice No 24 of 2021 which can be downloaded below.

The survey will be conducted from the RV Celtic Explorer (callsign EIGB) which will conduct acoustic surveying during the night using its hull mounted multibeam, with remotely operated vehicle (ROV) sampling during daylight hours.

In addition, the vessel will be used as a platform to deploy a range of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and a series of six small (1.2m3) pyramidal landers, referred to as baited remote underwater video (BRUV).

At all times, the RV Celtic Explorer will display appropriate lights and signals.

The Department of Transport has been advised that Codling Wind Park Limited intend to conduct a series of geophysical surveys in the Irish Sea off Dublin and Wicklow from Wednesday 14 April to Wednesday 26 May, weather permitting.

This work is intended to provide options for export cable routes to possible landfall options in the areas of Poolbeg, Dun Laoghaire, Greystones and Wicklow.

A total of two vessels will be working on the project. Arctic Ocean (callsign OZGP2) will undertake geophysical operations to characterise the export cable sites (weather permitting). Survey operations will be conducted on a 24-hour basis.

Meanwhile, Faraday (callsign MJZX5) will undertake geophysical operations (weather permitting). Survey operations will be conducted on a 12-hour basis.

Throughout survey operations, the vessels will be displaying the appropriate lights and shapes. As both vessels will be towing survey equipment, they will also require large turning circles and will be restricted in their ability to manoeuvre.

All vessels operating within the work area are requested to keep their distance, maintaining at least the 500m safety zone around the survey vessel and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

Further details including coordinated and contacts are included in Marine Notice No 21 of 2021, a PDF of which can be downloaded below.

Marine Notice No 20 of 2021 reminds owners, skippers and crew of fishing vessels of the requirement for crew lists on all registered fishing vessels.

Article 12 of the Annex to Council Directive (EU) 2017/159 — which aims to implement the Work in Fishing Convention, which in turn aims to ensure decent work and living conditions in the fishing sector — requires that every fishing vessel carry a crew list.

The European Union (International Labour Organisation Work in Fishing Convention) (Crew List and Fisherman’s Work Agreement) Regulations, 2020 (SI No 333 of 2020), were signed into law on 1 September 2020. Regulation 5 of SI No 333 of 2020 implements Article 12 of the Annex to the Directive and sets out the requirement in relation to crew lists.

The regulations place a responsibility on every registered fishing vessel to carry a crew list which shall be communicated ashore by the master, either prior to the departure of a fishing vessel or immediately after the departure of a fishing vessel. They also specify the minimum mandatory contents of the crew list and also to whom the crew list shall be communicated.

Full details of the requirements are included in Marine Notice No 20 of 2021, a PDF of which is available to download below.

The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport reminds seafarers of the important of passage planning and regular weather forecast checks during voyages.

It comes following the recommendations in the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report into the rescue of five sailors from the yacht Loa Zour amid severe storm conditions off the Spanish coast in June 2019.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, a crew from Kinsale Yacht Club were rescued from the 40ft yacht on 6 June 2019 just days after they had set out from West Cork for the Spanish port of A Coruña, after experiencing extreme conditions amid the surprise Storm Miguel.

The MCIB report found that while the storm was “an unusual and unexpected weather event”, and the skipper of the Loa Our “showed good judgement in his decision and actions in broadcasting a Mayday distress VHF transmission and activating the vessel’s EPIRB”, he was also unaware of the details of the Code of Practice for the Safe Operation of Recreational Craft and the requirement to submit a passage plan to a shore-based authority.

“If the basic tenets of the passage plan had been observed in detail with respect to updated weather forecasting during the voyage, observing the limitations of the boat design capability and staying within reach of a safe haven by taking a more circuitous route around the coastline of the Bay of Biscay, then the crew of yacht Loa Zour may have been better prepared before encountering Storm Miguel 85 [nautical miles] north of A Coruña,” the report states.

Marine Notice No 19 of 2021 highlights the relevant advice contained within the Code of Practice and related Marine Notices, and can be downloaded below.

The Department of Transport has launched a public consultation on matters relating to an independent review of the current organisational structures underpinning marine casualty investigation in Ireland.

The move follows Transport Minister Eamon Ryan’s promise earlier this year to undertake a “fundamental review” of the process of how marine accidents are investigated here.

The consultation period runs from today, Monday 29 March, to Wednesday 21 April and has the key objectives of:

• Assessing the current organisational structures for marine casualty investigation in Ireland; and
• Setting out in a report to the minister any recommendations, including in relation to change, to achieve the most appropriate and effective structures for Ireland, taking into account national, EU and international obligations.

Full details of the consultation are available on Gov.ie and more information can be found in Marine Notice No 18 of 2021, a PDF of which is available to download below.

The Department of Transport has been advised that a marine geophysical survey will be carried out from 5-30 May southwest of Rockall Plateau and across the Porcupine Abyssal Plain and Porcupine Seabight.

This survey is part of the Irish marine research programme project PORO-CLIM and is being carried out with the support of the EU Eurofleets+ programme (Project PORO-CLIM, Survey Code CE21008).

The survey will be conducted by the RV Celtic Explorer (callsign EIGB). The vessel will display appropriate lights and signals. All survey operations are 24 hours, continuous over day and night.

The vessel will on occasion be towing a hydrophone cable and other equipment up to a maximum of 1,000 metres behind the vessel. The vessel will be restricted in its movements when towing a cable astern.

Full details of coordinates for these survey works are included in Marine Notice No 17 of 2021, a PDF of which can be downloaded below.

The next leg of this year’s Irish Anglerfish and Megrim Survey (IAMS 2021) will be carried out from 10-21 April off the North and North West coasts.

The IAMS is carried out by the Marine Institute in fulfilment of Ireland’s obligations under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

A demersal trawl survey, April’s leg will consist of some 50 otter trawls of 60 minutes’ duration in ICES area 6a.

Fishing will take place within a three-nautical-mile radius of the positions indicated in Appendix 1 and 2 of Marine Notice No 15 of 2021, a PDF of which can be downloaded below.

The survey will be conducted from the RV Celtic Explorer (callsign EIGB) which will be towing a Jackson demersal trawl and will display appropriate lights and signals.

All marine operators, especially those engaged in commercial fishing, are requested to keep a 3mn area around the indicated tow points clear of any gear or apparatus during the survey period.

The Department of Transport has confirmed limited exemptions for maritime crews from mandatory hotel quarantine for those entering the State from high-risk countries, which comes into effect from tomorrow, Friday 26 March.

As detailed in Marine Notice No 16 of 2021 (which can be downloaded below), maritime crew are considered to be in the course of their work until they reach their home, having completed their duties on board.

It is recommended that seafarers arriving to Ireland to join a ship have in their possession evidence such as joining instructions from their employer or crewing agency.

In addition, it is recommended that seafarers leaving a ship abroad to return to Ireland are in possession of their seafarer’s discharge book that has been appropriately signed off by the ship as proof they have just completed their time aboard a vessel and are returning immediately home.

Another exemption is for anyone classed as an international transport workers, defined as a person who holds a valid Annex 3 Certificate in accordance with the Communication from the EU Commission on the implementation of the Green Lanes under the guidance for border management measures to protect health and ensure the availability of goods and ensure services.

While maritime crew are generally exempt from the travel restriction requirements, this does not extend to crew involved in the operation of pleasure craft not engaged in trade, as such journeys are considered non-essential.

Any crew arriving in Ireland working aboard such a craft are required to adhere to all of the relevant travel restrictions as appropriate, including completion of a passenger locator form, pre-departure RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to arrival and mandatory hotel quarantine where applicable. Breach of these legal obligations is an offence.

Further information in relation to travel restrictions in Ireland is available from gov.ie.

Owners/operators of international ferries serving Ireland are legally required to inform passengers of their obligations in relation to travel restrictions currently in place in Ireland.

They are also required to check each passenger has evidence of a negative/not-detected result from a RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to arrival in the State and to deny boarding to the passenger if such evidence is not produced.

In addition, there is a now a requirement to ensure that any passenger subject to mandatory hotel quarantine has made the necessary booking in advance of travel and to deny boarding if a relevant passenger cannot produce such evidence.

Masters are also requested to make on-board announcements detailing the legal requirement for passengers to complete the passenger locator form before disembarking and to ask passengers to have the form ready for collection by immigration officers.

TechWorks Marine advises that it is set to deploy two marine monitoring buoys in Tralee Bay as part of environmental oceanographic monitoring for Fenit Harbour.

The DB 500 data buoys will be deployed tomorrow, Friday 26 March, weather depending, and will be in place until at least Friday 30 April, after which they will be retrieved by a chartered vessel.

A flat-bottomed aqua-cultural work barge named the Kerry Pearl will be deploying the buoys. During deployment and recovery, VHF Channels monitored will be Channel 14 (Fenit Harbour working channel) and Channel 16.

During the extent of deployment, vessel traffic will need to avoid the area.

Full details including exact location coordinates are included in Marine Notice No 14 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.