The Department of Transport has been advised that the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) intends to undertake a geophysical survey campaign on the proposed offshore wind farm’s cable corridor area off the coast of counties Dublin, Meath and Louth.

This campaign will start on Wednesday 22 November and will continue for a period of two weeks, subject to weather and operational constraints.

It will be undertaken by SEP Hydrographic and will involve the deployment of a hull-mounted (multibeam echo sounder and high-frequency sub-bottom profiler) and towed geophysical sensors (side-scan sonar, magnetometer and medium-frequency sub-bottom profiler) within the nearshore part of the cable corridor area.

Survey work will be confined to nearshore area of the proposed cable corridor area, a total area of approximately 2.5 sq km. The survey area extends to landfall near Bremore. All operations will be within the 12-nautical-mile limit.

The survey will be conducted by the survey Vessel Ros Áine (callsign EIZG5) on a 12-hour (daylight operation) basis. As the survey vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre when surveying, due to the deployment of the towed survey sampling equipment for the duration of the survey activities, other vessels are kindly requested to keep a wide berth. The Ros Áine will display appropriate lights and signals.

Coordinates and a map of the survey area as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 74 of 2023, attached below.

The Department of Transport has been advised that the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) intends to undertake a geotechnical site investigation campaign on the proposed offshore wind farm area and cable corridor, off the coast of north Co Dublin, Meath and Louth.

This campaign will be undertaken by N-Sea and Geoquip Marine and will involve the deployment of seabed borehole drilling, cone penetration testing (CPT) and vibrocores from survey vessels at specific locations within the NISA OWF and cable corridor area detailed below.

The campaign will start on Wednesday 1 November and will run for a period of four weeks, subject to weather and operational constraints.

Surveys will be confined to distinct locations within the proposed wind farm array and cable corridor area, a total area of approximately 125 sq km. This wider area forms an irregular shape spanning approximately 16km north-south and 25km east-west at its widest points. The survey area extends to landfall near Bremore. All operations will be within the 12-nautical-mile limit.

The survey area is bounded by points listed and set out in the map included in Marine Notice No 69 of 2023, which is available to download below.

Surveys will be conducted by the Noordhoek Pathfinder (callsign PBYN) and Geoquip Seehorn (callsign 5BSW5) on a 24-hour basis. As the survey vessels will be restricted in their ability to manoeuvre when surveying, due to the deployment of the seabed sampling equipment for the duration of the survey activities, other vessels are kindly requested to keep a wide berth.

The survey vessels will display appropriate lights and signals. Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

Further details, including contact information, can be found in the Marine Notice attached below.

The North Irish Sea Array (NISA) has rescheduled a previously planned geotechnical site investigation campaign on the proposed offshore wind farm area off the coast of north Co Dublin, Meath and Louth.

This campaign will involve the deployment of seabed borehole drilling and cone penetration test (CPT) equipment for continuous sampling and is expected to be completed between today, Friday 4 November and Thursday 8 December, subject to weather and operational constraints.

It will be confined to the proposed NISA offshore wind farm area, which 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 on a 24-hour basis by the Fugro Synergy survey vessel (callsign C6XR3).

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

An onboard fisheries liaison officer will be available to discuss operations throughout the duration of the survey campaign.

The vessel will display appropriate lights and signals. Mariners are also 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 74 of 2022, attached below.

Update: the survey has been rescheduled for 4 November-8 December 2022 and Marine Notice No 69 of 2022 withdrawn.

Following this past week’s deployment of metocean instrumentation, the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) intends to undertake a geotechnical site investigation campaign on the proposed offshore wind farm area off the coast of north Co Dublin, Meath and Louth.

This campaign will involve the deployment of seabed borehole drilling and cone penetration test (CPT) equipment for continuous sampling and is expected to be completed between next Monday 17 October and Sunday 20 November, subject to weather and operational constraints.

It will be confined to the proposed NISA area, which 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 on a 24-hour basis by the Fugro Synergy survey vessel (callsign C6XR3).

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

An onboard fisheries liaison officer will be available to discuss operations throughout the duration of the survey campaign.

The vessel will display appropriate lights and signals. Mariners are also 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 69 of 2022, attached below.

Marine data company Partrac is planning a new deployment of metocean instrumentation for the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) over a three-day period from Monday 10 October.

These will replace the instruments deployed in January this year, as previously reported on Afloat.ie, on a schedule subject to weather and operational constraints.

The survey campaign will be undertaken within the proposed NISA offshore wind farm array area. This forms an irregular, approximately rectangular shape, spanning 31km north-south and 14km east-west at its widest point. At its closest location, near Rush in Co Dublin, the array area is approximately 7.4km from the coastline.

Deployments will be carried out from the AMS Retriever (callsign MEHI8) which will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre. All other 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.

Coordinates of the deployments as well as characteristics of the metocean buoys and contact details are included in Marine Notice No 68 of 2022, attached below.

Operators of the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) offshore wind farm will shortly undertake a subtidal benthic ecology survey campaign on its proposed export cable route area, off the coast of north Co Dublin and Co Meath.

Similar to the campaign this past summer, it will involve the deployment of benthic grab, water quality sonde and drop-down video equipment from a survey vessel within the bounds of the proposed NISA Export Cable Route area.

It is expected to be completed between next Wednesday 28 September 2022 and Wednesday 5 October, subject to weather and operational constraints.

As with the concurrent geophysical survey, the campaign will be confined to the proposed NISA Export Cable Route area. This area forms an irregular shape spanning 11km north-south and 18km east-west at its widest point. The survey area has two landfall areas close to Balbriggan in north Co Dublin.

The benthic survey campaign will be conducted by the survey vessel Husky (callsign 2EQI7). An onboard fisheries liaison officer will be available to discuss operations throughout the duration of the survey campaign.

The survey vessel will display appropriate lights and signals. All other vessels operating within this area are requested to keep a wide berth and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash. Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

Contact details, coordinates and a map of the survey area are included in Marine Notice No 64 of 2022, attached below.

Operators of the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) offshore wind farm are undertaking a geophysical survey campaign on its proposed export cable route area, off the coast of north Co Dublin and Co Meath.

This campaign is expected to run from next Monday 12 September to continue until Wednesday 12 October, subject to weather and operational constraints.

The survey campaign will be confined to the proposed NISA Export Cable Route area. This area forms an irregular shape spanning 11km north-south and 18km east-west at its widest point. The survey area has two landfall areas close to Balbriggan and surveys will proceed as shallow as around three metres of water depth.

The survey will be conducted by the vessels Geo Focus (callsign PCOS) and Ros Áine (callsign EIZG5) in depths of greater than and less than 10m respectively, both working on a 24/7 basis.

The survey will utilise multibeam echosounders, sub-bottom profilers, side-scan sonar, magnetometer, both hull-mounted and towed. Typically, the towed cable lengths will be about four times the water depth while acquiring survey data.

Both vessels will display appropriate lights and signals. Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

As the survey vessels will be restricted in their ability to manoeuvre when surveying, due to the deployment of the towed survey equipment, all other vessels operating within this area are requested to keep a wide berth and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

Contact details, coordinates and a map of the survey area are included in Marine Notice No 63 of 2022 amended, attached below.

This article was edited on Thursday 8 September to reflect the published amenment to the Marine Notice.

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.

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.

A benthic survey campaign is being undertaken off the coast of north Co Dublin, Co Meath and Co Louth for the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) offshore wind farm.

Scheduled to begin yesterday, Wednesday 29 September and continue to next Thursday 7 October, the campaign will involve the deployment of benthic grab and drop-down video equipment from a survey vessel within the bounds of the proposed NISA wind farm.

This area forms an irregular, approximately rectangular shape, spanning 31km 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 is 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 from the deck of the vessel for the duration of the drop and recovery, other vessels are requested to keep a wide berth.

An onboard fisheries liaison officer is aboard the vessel throughout the duration of the survey campaign.

Further information, including co-ordinates of the survey area and contact details, can be found in Marine Notice No 52 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.