In response to recommendations in the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report into the fatal incident involving the FV Myia in Galway Bay in November 2020, as previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Department of Transport is stressing the importance of navigation planning.

The necessity of ensuring all navigation is planned in detail from berth to berth, with contingency plans in place, applies to all concerned in the fishing industry.

Owners and relevant crew members need to familiarise themselves with their vessel, including its anchoring arrangements and any limitations of the anchoring equipment.

Owners and masters are also reminded that an efficient navigational watch shall be maintained throughout the voyage in line with the Basic Principles to be observed in keeping a Navigational Watch on Board Fishing Vessels as set out IMO Resolution A.484 (XII). Situational awareness with regard to navigation shall be maintained at all times.

All voyages must be planned using the most up to date nautical publications and approved admiralty charts and/or ECDIS. It is essential to carry out regular weather forecast checks during coastal, offshore and ocean voyages.

Shipowners, masters, skippers and fishers should particularly consider the following points when planning on going to sea:

• Weather: Prior to proceeding to sea, weather forecasts shall be assessed and the means to obtain available weather forecast updates shall be ensured. The prevailing weather shall be monitored at all times. Where weather conditions are deteriorating and the safety of the vessel or crew is in question, operators should seek shelter or return to port.
• Tides: The state of the tide and current should be determined for the planned voyage, task or activity. Masters and skippers shall ensure that the vessel or craft can be safely operated in the states of expected tide or current.
• Limitations of the vessel: Ensure the vessel is suitable for the planned voyage, task or activity, that all systems are available and in good operational condition, including all appropriate safety systems and equipment which shall, at all times, be ready for immediate use.
• Crew: Take into account the experience and physical ability of the crew. Crews suffering from cold, tiredness and seasickness won’t be able to do their job properly and this could result in an overburdened skipper. Prior to proceeding to sea, crew members should be well rested, fit and physically capable for any task that they may be required to perform whilst onboard. Masters and skippers should be aware of dangers of, and be able to recognise, fatigue and its impact on the safety of the vessel or craft.
• Communications: VHF radio should be available onboard which is capable of operating on marine band Channel 16 to raise a distress and/or seek assistance. Skippers should not rely on mobile phones as signal availability can be reduced or lost due to range from shore and environmental conditions. Skippers should, prior to departure, advise the port authority or a designated person ashore of planned area of operation and expected time of return.

SubCom is carrying out pre-lay grapnel and route-clearance operations along the route of the IRIS Subsea Fibre Optic Cable System in the Ireland TS, CZ and EEZ off Galway and Mayo from this week.

The operations are expected to be carried out from yesterday, Tuesday 31 May until next Friday 10 June, weather permitting.

Works will be conducted by the ACSM vessel OSV Artabro (callsign EAQK). The vessel will have stern-deployed equipment and will be restricted in manoeuvrability.

Throughout operations, the vessel will be displaying the appropriate lights and shapes as required under the COLREGS Rule 27(b). It will always be listening to VHF Channel 16 but can set any other channel as required.

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

Coordinates of the cable route works and contact details are included in Marine Notice No 30 of 2022, attached below.

Codling Wind Park Limited intends to undertake a new geotechnical survey off the coast of Dublin, following last year’s site investigations, as part of the consenting process for the Codling Wind Park project.

Operations will commence, at the earliest, from Monday 6 June and likely finish four weeks later on Monday 4 July, weather permitting.

The works will consist of a geotechnical investigation to characterise the potential export cable corridor. The works will be conducted at a single location at any given time.

The Codling Wind Park is a project on the Codling Bank approximately 13km off the east coast of Ireland, near to Wicklow.

Several potential export cable corridors are being assessed. The survey will encompass the area of the proposed cable corridor.

A total of three vessels will be working on the project: the jack-up barge OCM 80 (no callsign), the tug Trojan (callsign EI-EX-6) and crew transfer vessel Ocean Clipper (callsign EI-WW-5).

All other vessels operating within their vicinity are requested to keep their distance and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash around the jack-up barge during the survey period.

It is intended that geotechnical investigation will be operating on 12-hour shifts, seven days per week within the boundary area for the duration of the proposed works.

Throughout survey operations, the vessels will be displaying the appropriate lights and shapes as required under the COLREGS Rule 27 (b).

Coordinates of the survey area as well as contact details are included in Marine Notice No 29 of 2022, attached below.

A geotechnical survey will shortly be undertaken in the Irish Sea off the Wicklow coast to provide site investigation information to facilitate the development of the Arklow Bank Wind Park.

The survey work is anticipated to start at the end of May and be completed by the end of August, weather depending.

The survey will be conducted by DEME vessel Neptune (callsign LXNP), a 60.25m dynamically positioned specialist survey vessel (current draught 7.19m, beam 38m), and will include approximately eight boreholes which will be drilled at discrete locations within the survey area.

The vessel will be operating 24 hours per day during survey works. As this vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre when surveying, all other vessels are requested to leave a wide berth.

Details of survey area coordinates and more can be found in Marine Notice No 28 of 2022, attached below.

The North Irish Sea Array (NISA) offshore wind farm project is to undertake a geophysical survey campaign on the proposed array area off the coast of North Co Dublin, Meath and Louth.

It follows the benthic survey campaign completed earlier this month and is expected to take place between Friday 27 May and the end of June, weather permitting.

The survey campaign will be confined to the proposed NISA OWF array area. This area forms an irregular shape spanning 32km north-south and 14km east-west at its widest point. At its closest location, near Rush in Co Dublin, the survey site is 7.4km from the coastline.

The survey will be conducted by the survey vessel Fugro Mercator (callsign C6DU5) using utilise multibeam echo sounders, sub-bottom profilers, side-scan sonar and magnetometer, both hull-mounted and towed. Typically, the towed cable lengths will be about four times the water depth while acquiring survey data.

Work will be conducted on a 24-hour basis and the vessel will display appropriate lights and signals. Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

As the survey vessel will be restricted in its 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.

Details of relevant coordinates and contact information are included in Marine Notice No 27 of 2022, attached below.

Alpha Marine will undertake a geophysical survey campaign in relation to the Clogherhead Offshore Wind Farm off the coast of Co Louth from next Thursday 25 May to Wednesday 27 July.

The survey will be conducted by the Baltic Explorer (callsign LYBW) utilising multibeam 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 about four times the water depth while acquiring survey data.

The work will be conducted on a 24-hour basis and the work vessel will display appropriate lights and signals. Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

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

Mariners are also asked to note that the start date and the duration of the activity are dependent on weather and work progress.

Coordinates of the survey area and contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 26 of 2022, attached below.

Van Oord Ireland is to commence operations on the Arklow Long Sea Outfall project in the coming week.

The outfall will be approximately 1,000 metres in length and have a diameter of 630mm and will be laid in a pre-excavated trench.

Weather depending, the current schedule for installation works of the pipeline is from Tuesday 17 May until the end of July.

Initially, three HDPE pipelines each of 309m in length will be towed as a bundle from open sea to the North Quay at the Port of Arklow, where these pipe strings will be moored off alongside the quay and worked on until the pipe installation in mid-June.

During pipe installation, the harbour entrance will have limited availability to other traffic for 48 hours.

Dredging works are planned to commence on Saturday 28 May. Prior to that, survey works will be performed in the period from Wednesday 25 May to Monday 30 May.

The operations will be conducted by a number of vessels, including the backhoe dredger Razende Bol (callsign PFSD), shoal buster AMS Retriever (callsign MEHI8), tug Husky (callsign 2EQI7), landing craft Ros Aine (callsign EI-2G-5) and tug Valdemer (callsign OUCG2).

Early this coming week the Valdemar will arrive offshore where lead tug AMS Retriever and assisting tail tug Husky will join the tow towards Arklow Harbour, which will take the normal navigation route into the Avoca River mouth.

All work vessels will keep a VHF radio listening watch on Channel 16.

Contact details and coordinates for these operations are included in Marine Notice No 25 of 2022, attached below.

Continuing its Kinsale area decomissioning project, PSE Kinsale Energy Limited advises that its Kinsale Head platform removal campaign will commence later this month and is expected to run through to September.

Works will be conducted by the semi-submersible, self-propelled crane unit Thialf (callsign 3EAA4) assisted by a number of cargo barges towed by the MV Kolga (callsign PCTR) and MW Bylgia (callsign PBMQ). The Merel G (callsign HO6511) will be used for crew transfer between the vessels and shore.

Backloading of removed compoents onto the cargo barges is planned for the offshore location but may be performed inshore depending on environmental conditions.

All work vessels may be contacted on VHF Channel 16 throughout the operation. All other vessels, particularly those engaged in fishing, are requested to give the vessels a wide berth and to keep a sharp lookout in the relevant areas.

Details of relevant coordinates and contact information can be found in Marine Notice No 24 of 2022, attached below.

The North Irish Sea Array (NISA) offshore wind farm project is currently engaged in a benthic survey campaign off the coast of North Co Dublin, Meath and Louth.

Similar to the survey conducted last autumn, the campaign involves the deployment of benthic grab and drop-down video equipment from a survey vessel within the bounds of the proposed array area, and is expected to be completed by next Monday 9 May, weather permitting.

Survey works are being conducted by the survey vessel Husky (callsign 2EQI7). As this vessel is restricted in its ability to manoeuvre when surveying, due to the deployment of the grab sampler, other vessels are requested to keep a wide berth. A fisheries liaison officer is aboard the vessel for the duration of the survey campaign.

Contact details, a map and coordinates of the survey area can be found in Marine Notice No 23 of 2022, attached below.

The Air Corps advises that it will conduct air-to-ground and air-to-air firing exercises in the Gormanston D1 Air Range in Co Meath this week.

Mariners in the Irish Sea off Co Meath are given due warning that live firing will take place daily between 9am and 5pm from tomorrow, Tuesday 26 to Friday 29 April.

An Activation Notice (Danger Area D1 – Gormanston) was issued last week, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

The officer in charge of firing on each day will be fully briefed regarding communication between the firing point and the Air Traffic Control Centre at Dublin Airport.

In addition, the Naval Service will provide a patrol vessel to enforce the exclusion zone in the Irish Sea.