Following a review of current circumstances locally and internationally by the HSE and Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), it has been decided to stand down the health reporting requirements around COVID-19 set out in Marine Notice No 06 of 2020.

As of Monday 10 January, there is no longer a requirement for every vessel arriving in Ireland from outside the island of Ireland to issue a Maritime Declaration of Health (MDOH).

In line with the requirements of the Infectious Diseases (Shipping) Regulations 2008 (SI No 4 of 2008), a vessel need only submit a MDOH when:

1. There is a case, or a suspected case, of an infectious disease on board and this has resulted in illness or death, or
2. upon a request to do so as part of a local arrangement with local port health authorities.

Further queries relating to the submission of MDOHs may be directed to the Environmental Health Service at [email protected]. Additional guidance on COVID-19 in Ireland is available from the HSE.

The Department of Transport adds that Marine Notice No 06 of 2020 is hereby withdrawn.

The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport advises that the Informing and Mapping the Offshore Renewable Environment (I-MORE) Survey will be carried out in the North Irish Sea from early in the New Year.

From 4-13 January 2022, the RV Celtic Explorer (callsign EIGB) will carry out the survey on a 24-hour schedule using the Manta–200 Seabed Cone Penetration Testing (CPT) system.

The aim of this survey is to gather critical seabed data to feed into existing postdoc and group research across a range of disciplines, including marine geotechnics and physical geology, to better understand the geology and engineering properties of the sediment in this area and to identify potential geohazards to infrastructure development.

Map of the proposed iMORE survey area

Coodinates of the survey area and other details can be found in Marine Notice No 66 of 2021, available to download below.

Further to last week’s Marine Notice advising of the latest works on the Havhingsten fibre optic telecommunication cable system this month, rock placement activities in the Irish Sea are also planned from this weekend.

There are four crossing locations in the Irish Sea where rock placement will be installed from this Saturday 11 December, but only one will be within the Irish EEZ, at the offshore extent.

Rock placement will be via industry standard, and activity at each site will last for up to 15 hours.

The operations will be conducted by the cable installation vessel Stornes (callsign PCKX), which will operate on a 24-hour basis and display appropriate day shapes and lights during reduced visibility and night operations.

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

Further details, including relevant coordinates and contact information, can be found in Marine Notice No 65 of 2021 which is available to download below.

Installation of the Havhingsten fibre optic telecommunication cable system in the Irish Sea inside of the Irish 12-nautical-mile zone is planned for this month.

It follows works this past autumn in the Irish Sea outside of territorial waters, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Works are planned to start on Monday 13 December, subject to weather and full execution of the foreshore licence.

The latest operations on the cable route for the western Irish Sea region, which lands at Loughshinny, will be conducted by the cable installation vessel CS Île de Batz (callsign FOSU).

It will be working on a 24-hour basis and will display appropriate day shapes and lights during reduced visibility and night operations.

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

Details of the coordinates of the work area and contact information can be found in Marine Notice No 64 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.

The second leg of the MOVE 2 survey of the mobility of sediment waves and sand banks will be carried out in the Irish Sea off Wicklow and Wexford from next weekend.

As noted previously on Afloat.ie, reporting on the survey in March this year, it will involve the use of multi-beam echo sounders and sub-bottom profilers at various sites, and sediment grabs samples will also be taken.

Survey operations will be carried out on a 24-hour schedule between Saturday 4 and Monday 13 December by the RV Celtic Voyager (callsign EIQN), which will be displaying appropriate lights and signals.

This survey is being carried out in support of ongoing research at the SFI Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine research and innovation (MaREI) and the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG).

More on the survey including coordinates and contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 63 of 2021, a PDF of which is available to download below.

The European Union (Minimum Safety and Health Requirements for Improved Medical Treatment on Board Vessels) Regulations 2021 transpose into Irish law European Council Directive 92/29/EEC (as amended) concerning the minimum health and safety requirements for improved medical treatment on board vessels.

These regulations give effect to the directive in full, included amendments to the annexes set out in European Commission Directive (EU) 2019/1834 detailing requirements of medical supplies and equipment to be carried on board for each category of vessel.

In line with the requirements set out in the annexes to the revised directive, the medicine and required dosage under each category is outlined in Marine Notice No 60 of 2021 (available to download below) in order to assist vessel owners in complying with the directive.

Owners and masters of Irish vessels are required to comply with the requirements of the amended directive as of this past Saturday 20 November.

TechWorks Marine has scheduled the deployment of three trawl-resistant acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) in Tralee Bay from next week.

The three bottom-mounted ADCP frames will be positioned on the seabed at various depths between Monday 1 and Saturday 13 November, weather depending.

If the deployment is delayed due to unsuitable conditions, then it will be carried out on the next viable tide and weather window.

Once deployed, the frames will be on the seabed for a minimum of one calendar month and a maximum of two months, weather permitting.

Map showing the planned ADCP locations in Tralee Bay | Credit: TechWorks Marine

They are required to carry out water quality sampling surveys and vessel-mounted ADCP surveys at the same time as the deployments. As these are tide and weather dependent, they may cause a slight delay in the recovery of the seabed frames.

The frames will be deployed by the Whispering Hope (callsign EIAR8) which will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre during this operation.

Vessels operating within this area are requested to keep their distance, maintaining a safety zone around the deployment vessel, and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

Details of the exact locations of the ADCP frames and other information for mariners can be found in Marine Notice No 59 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.

The annual Irish Groundfish Survey (IGFS) for 2021 will be carried out by the Marine Institute off the North West, West and South Coasts of Ireland from Saturday 30 October to Tuesday 14 December.

The IGFS is a demersal trawl survey consisting of approximately 170 fishing hauls of 30-minute duration each in ICES areas VIa, VIIb, VIIg and VIIj.

As part of the requirements for the 2021 survey, fishing will take place within a two-nautical-mile radius of the positions indicated in the appendices to Marine Notice No 57 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.

The survey will be conducted by the RV Celtic Explorer (callsign EIGB) which will display appropriate lights and signals. The vessel will be towing a high headline GOV 36/47 demersal trawl during fishing operations.

The Marine Institute requests that commercial fishing and other marine operators keep a two-nautical-mile area around the tow mid-points clear of any gear or apparatus during the survey period outlined above.

Further details can be found in the Marine Notice attached below.

The latest rig move as part of PSE Kinsale Energy’s subsea well abandonment campaign will take place this week, preceded by anchor pre-lay operations.

The Stena Spey mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) is currently operating at the Seven Heads Gas Field on well 48/24-5A and will relocate to the Ballycotton Gas Field are — which consists of a single well (48/20-2) — around Wednesday 20 October.

In advance of the move, the eight-anchor mooring spread will be pre-laid at the well location, using the MV Maersk Maker (callsign OZGO2) and MV Maersk Mariner (callsign OWGQ2).

After its arrival in the Ballycotton field, it is anticipated that the rig will continue to operate there until mid-November as a minimum, depending on operational progress.

Following completion of activities in the Ballycotton area, the rig will relocate to Scapa Flow, Orkney in Scotland as this will see all wells abandoned and the campaign completed.

The Stena Spey and its attending vessels will be listening on VHF Channel 16 throughout the operation. All vessels, particularly those engaged in fishing, are requested to give the rig (and pre-laid anchor patterns) a wide berth and to keep a sharp lookout in the relevant areas.

Coordinates of the Stena Spey’s new position at Ballycotton and anchor lays in the are detailed in Marine Notice No 58 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.

The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport gives advance notice of the discontinuation of the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) service around the coast of the island of Ireland from 31 March 2022.

DGPS has been provided as an augmentation service of the GPS signal by the General Lighthouse Authorities in Ireland and the UK since 1997.

The Commissioners of Irish Lights, in consultation with the Department of Transport, have resolved that the DGPS service has now become redundant and has decided to discontinue the service in waters around the coast of the island of Ireland after 31 March 2022.

Further information and guidance for maritime users is available on the Irish Lights website. This explains the background, consultation with the wider DGPS user group and guidance for maintaining the safety of navigation after the DGPS service ceases next spring.