Ireland’s first Marine Notice of 2023 is out of this world — quite literally, as it advises of potential hazard at sea from a satellite rocket launch from Cornwall next week.

Virgin Orbit has designated a space launch hazard area off the South West Coast active from 10pm on Monday 9 to 1am on Tuesday 10 January, subject to weather and operational constraints.

Where the launch attempt proceeds as planned, no debris will enter this area. However, there is a low probability for the vehicle to produce dangerous debris if a mishap were to occur, Virgin Orbit says.

Mariners are advised to avoid the marine hazard area during and leading up to the launch period due to possible dangerous conditions from potential rocket debris.

More precise details of the launch will be promulgated though the MSI service by the Irish Coast Guard and UK;s HM Coastguard on VHF, MF and NAVTEX broadcasts, five days before the launch.

Virgin Orbit says it will be taking every step possible to monitor the area during the launch attempt. Mariners are advised to report any debris or pollution sightings in the event of a launch mishap.

Backup launch dates as well as relevant coordinates, a map and contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 1 of 2023, attached below.

Marine Notices No 37 of 2021 and No 44 of 2021 advised of the deployment of two wave buoys and one floating LiDAR buoy at the Dublin Array offshore wind farm on the Bray and Kish Banks.

The two wave buoys were recovered from site in June 2022. Now the Department of Transport has now been advised by Partrac Ltd that the floating LiDAR buoy on Bray Bank is scheduled to be recovered in the period between Thursday 5 and Thursday 19 January 2023, subject to weather and operational constraints.

The floating LiDAR buoy at Latitude 53° 10.645’ N, Longitude 005° 55.785' W has a square footprint with an area of 4 sqm and height of around 4m above the water line. It is yellow in colour and has a St Andrew cross on top.

It also contains a yellow light which emits five flashes every 20 seconds and is visible for up to three nautical miles.

The vessel CT Barnston (callsign MUZU5) will recover the buoy and tow it back to Wicklow Harbour for demobilisation. Dublin Port will be contacted in advance regarding the operations with estimated timings. The buoy will be towed some 30m astern of the CT Branston at a maximum speed of 3.5 knots.

During recovery of the floating LiDAR buoy on Bray Bank, the vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre. All other vessels are requested to leave a wide berth during the recovery and towing operations. Radio transmissions will be conducted with VTS and other seafarers to notify them of the buoy operations.

Contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 85 of 2022, attached below.

Research survey TC22017 will be carried out in the Irish Sea in the vicinity of the Kish Bank Lighthouse by the University of Limerick (UL) in collaboration with the Marine Institute from this Sunday 11 to Friday 16 December, subject to weather and operational constraints.

The aim of this survey the testing and development of UL’s underwater ROV (remotely operated vehicle) system and automation platforms.

Ship-time will be focused on trialling comprehensive multi-disciplinary control and inspection methods, utilising new technologies to enable automated offshore asset inspection.

The primary outcome of the trials is to work towards the development of a framework and technique for the inspection of offshore assets remotely.

The survey will be conducted by the RV Tom Crean (callsign EIYX3) which will display appropriate lights and signals. The operations will take place between 7am and 7pm daily. The vessel will mainly run in DP mode while the ROV operates close to Kish Bank Lighthouse.

A map and coordinates of the survey area as well as contact details and a list of equipment used can be found in Marine Notice No 84 of 2022, attached below.

The Department of Transport is currently drafting new regulations entitled “Fishing Vessels (Certification of Deck Officers and Engineer Officers) Regulations”, which will revoke and replace the current regulations, titled Fishing Vessels (Certification of Deck Officers and Engineer Officers) Regulations, 1988 (S.I. No. 289 of 1988) and its amending regulations.

Similar to the 1988 regulations, the new regulations will apply to fishers aboard fishing vessels that are 15 metres in length overall and over, and government research fishery vessels.

A summary of the new regulations is included in Marine Notice No 83 of 2022, attached below, and interested parties are invited to submit their views by 1pm on Tuesday 31 January.

Comments or observations on the proposed new regulations should be sent by email, with “FV Certification Regs” in the subject line, to [email protected]. Please note that details of submissions received may be published on the department’s website.

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.

The Department of Transport’s latest Marine Notice is a timely reminder for mariners over the regulations regarding the use of emergency position-indicating radio beacons (EPIRBs).

Last month saw the launch of a new online ship radio licence and EPIRB registration system, as previously reported on Afloat.ie, which replaces the prior paper form and email application processes.

Mariners purchasing second-hand vessels from outside the State are reminded that they must ensure their onboard EPIRBs are correctly registered. The correct registration, testing, regular maintenance and licensing of all EPIRB equipment installed on any vessel at sea is of high importance.

Other notices of relevance are linked in Marine Notice No 81 of 2022, attached below.

NKT will be carrying out an ROV cable survey of the East-West Interconnector (EWIC) cable on behalf of EirGrid to determine the condition of the cable laid 10 years ago.

The EWIC runs between Deeside in north Wales and Woodland in Co Meath, the marine segment being 187km in length with landfall at North Beach in Rush, Co Dublin.

This survey will run the entire length of the marine cable, with a small section of beach survey, from the beach in Ireland to the beach in Wales. The Irish side of the operation is expected to be completed between this Saturday 26 and Wednesday 30 November, subject to weather and operational constraints.

The geophysical condition survey will comprise a standard multi-beam echo sounder and side-scan sonar survey. Note that no ground truthing, sub-bottom profiling or magnetometry is taking place during this survey.

Works will be conducted by the cable installation vessel NKT Victoria (callsign LAWV7) which will display appropriate lights and signals. It will be supported in the near-shore area by the AMS Adventure and an underwater ROV (within two miles of the coast)/

As the vessel will be limited in its ability to manoeuvre at times when undertaking operations, other vessels are kindly requested to keep a wide berth.

Coordinates and a map of the survey area as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 80 of 2022, attached below.

This story was updated on Friday 25 November with details of support vessels.

Research survey TC22016 will be carried out in the southern Irish Sea off the Wexford/Wicklow coast by University College Dublin from next Wednesday 30 November to Friday 9 December, subject to weather and operational constraints.

The aim of this research project is to test novel low-impact marine sensors to aid in better understanding of seabed processes and sub-bottom conditions.

Survey works will be conducted on and around Arklow Bank by the State’s latest marine research vessel, the RV Tom Crean (callsign EIYX3), which will display appropriate lights and signals.

Within the defined areas, the vessel will be undertaking deployment of equipment and operation of acoustic sources during daylight hours, and sparker and multi-beam acoustic operations during the night.

All operations will be carried out in accordance with safe operating practices and MMO procedures and cognisant of fishing gear. All surface equipment will display appropriate lighting while deployed.

As the vessel will be limited in its ability to manoeuvre at times when undertaking operations, other vessels are kindly requested to keep a wide berth.

Mariners as also asked to note that a wind turbine was set on fire by a suspected lightning strike last month in the location of this planned survey and that there is a radio navigation warning in force. All vessels are requested to keep at least 500 metres clear of the turbine.

Maps and coordinates of the survey area as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 79 of 2022, attached below.

The deadline for submissions in the public consultation on a review of the Code of Practice for the Safe Operation of Recreational Craft has been extended to 5pm on Friday 9 December.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Department of Transport reached out to stakeholders in the marine sector last month as it begins the process to review the Code of Practice, the latest edition of which was published in 2017.

The Code of Practice provides information on the legislation that applies to recreational craft, as well as safety information, advice and best-practice guidance for owners, operators and users of a range of recreational craft operating in Irish coastal and inland waters.

It’s proposed that the review will look at the content, structure and design of the Code, including at ways to improve the understanding of the content for end users, both in terms of presentation and layout.

For more details, see Marine Notice No 75 of 2022 (Amended) which is attached below.

An ultra-high-resolution geophysical survey will be carried out in the Oriel Wind Farm array area in the Irish Sea off Co Louth to provide bathymetric and subsurface information to facilitate the development of the offshore wind farm.

The survey work was anticipated to start Friday 18 November 2022 and to be completed by mid-December 2022, subject to weather and operational constraints.

Works will be confined to the Oriel Wind Farm array area, which is located between Dunany Point and the Cooley Peninsula.

The survey will be conducted by the Fastnet Pelican (callsign 2FNX7), which is a shallow draft survey vessel. The vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre due to the deployment of towed survey equipment up to 100 metres astern.

All other vessels operating within this area are requested to leave a wide berth.

The work vessel will display appropriate lights and signals and operations will be conducted during daylight hours. Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

Coordinates and a map of the survey area as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 78 of 2022, attached below.