#MarineNotice - Following April's air defence shoot, the Defence Forces will be conducting an air-to-ground shoot at Gormanston Ranges between 16 and 28 May (excluding Sunday 22 May) from 10am to 6pm each day.

The danger area (EID1) comprises the lands of Gormanston Aerodrome and the air and sea areas contained within a radius of three nautical miles centred on Gormanston Aerodrome.

An additional area is contained within a segment centred on Gormanston Aerodrome and bearing of 015º degrees true, through Mosney Railway Station and 106º degrees true, through Gormanston Railway Station seawards for a distance of 10 nautical miles.

For the periods while the range is active, the sea zone within the danger area is out of bounds to all vessels. A Naval Service patrol vessel will enforce the exclusion zone ‘D1’ as indicated on UKHO Chart No 44.

All vessels are advised that they are required to remain outside of the exclusion zone while the range is active. Vessels in the area are recommended to carefully monitor the Radio Navigation Warnings that will be broadcast during the firing period.

#MarineNotice - Following its scheduled survey under Licensing Option 16/14 later this month, PGS Geophysical AS is scheduled to carry out a second 3D seismic survey, this time in the North Porcupine Basin, from mid-June.

The survey over Frontier Exploration Licenses (FELs) 3/14 and 5/14 has been named 'Bréanann' and will cover 2,400 sq km over some 40 days, subject to weather. The same survey and support vessels will carry out this second survey.

Full details including co-ordinates can be found in Marine Notice No 21 of 2016, a PDF of which is available to read or download HERE.

#MarineNotice - The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) advises that PGS Geophysical AS, on behalf of Woodside Energy (Ireland) Pty Ltd, is scheduled to carry out a 3D Seismic survey in the Porcupine Basin.

This survey, under Licensing Option 16/14 and named Granuaile, will cover 1,579 sq km and is anticipated to commence in the third week of May. The expected duration is around 35 days, subject to weather.

The survey vessel RV Ramform Vanguard (Callsign C6TU8) is scheduled to carry out the work. The vessel will tow 12 long solid streamers of 7,050m in length, with a separation of 120m and at depth of 20m below the surface of the water.

Active radar transponders and flashing navigation lights will be on the outer streamer tail buoys. The seismic vessel and equipment will traverse along pre-determined lines east-west across the operations area at a speed of approximately 4.5kts.

The seismic vessel will be accompanied by support vessel MV Thor Magni (Callsign C6BH9) and guard vessel MV Thor Chaser (Callsign J8B2384). Fishery liaison officers (FLOs) will be onboard the RV Ramform Vanguard to ensure communications with fishermen are clear and timely.

All vessels engaged on this survey will be listening on VHF Channel 16 at all times throughout the project. All other vessels, particularly those engaged in fishing, are requested to give the RV Ramform Vanguard and her towed equipment a wide berth and keep a sharp lookout in the relevant areas.

Full details of co-ordinates are included in Marine Notice No 20 of 2016, a PDF of which is available to read or download HERE.

#MarineNotice - Marine Notice No 19 of 2016 advises that the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) has become aware of a small number of possible fraudulent Irish seafarer certificates, and an associated fraudulent website, which purports to verify such fraudulently issued seafarer certification.

The department advises that Irish seafarer certification is only issued by the DTTAS and that all Irish certificates are to be verified at the following address:

Mercantile Marine Office
Irish Maritime Administration
Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
Leeson Lane, Dublin 2
DO2 TR60
Ireland
Email: [email protected] Tel: +353 1 6783480

In addition, Ireland has agreements under the IMO STCW Convention and EU legislation as set out in Marine Notice No 6 of 2011 with various administrations for the recognition of certificates of competency for merchant ships.

Maritime administrations, companies and seafarers seeking to verify Irish seafarer certification should only do so with the Irish Maritime Administration directly as above.

#MarineNotice - The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) advises that Shell E & P Ireland Ltd will undertake its annual pipeline and umbilical survey at the Corrib field location and along the pipeline corridor to the landfall at Broadhaven Bay.

There will also be a programme of maintenance and inspection conducted on the subsea facilities when the first phase of works begins later this week. This work will all take place within the 500m Safety Zone and will involve carrying out a programme of maintenance to investigate and repair some of the subsea facilities as required.

Phase 2, the pipeline and umbilical inspection, will be undertaken from 54°20.34’N, 011°03.51’W (Corrib Offshore Field Location) to 54° 17.00’N, 009° 49.24’ W (landfall).

The area of activity stretches along the route of the existing Corrib offshore gas pipeline and umbilical route. The pipeline and umbilical surveys will be separate activities. The work involves acoustic and visual survey of the pipeline and umbilical.

The Phase 1 work will commence in mid April and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. The Phase 2 work will commence upon completion of Phase 1 and is expected to be completed by the end of May.

The Olympic Ares (Callsign C6AW7) will undertake the deep water surveys and the subsea facilities maintenance and inspection. All equipment used will be vessel- and/or ROV-mounted. The vessel will be listening on VHF Channel 16 throughout the project.

A reference map of the Corrib offshore gas pipeline and umbilical route is included in Marine Notice No 15 of 2016, a PDF of which is available to read or download HERE.

#MarineNotice - The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) advises that V.Ships Ltd will be carrying out seabed mapping operations off the West Coast of Ireland.

The work started today (Saturday 2 April) and will last for approximately 14 days, weather permitting, carried out by the Survey Vessel John Lethbridge (Callsign H8PY).

The vessel, towing equipment including a sonar scanner, will display appropriate lights and markers and will be listening on VHF Channel 16 throughout the project.

Details of co-ordinates of the work area are included in Marine Notice No 13 of 2016, a PDF of which is available to read or download HERE.

#MarineNotice - The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) advises that the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) and the University of Bremen will deploy three scientific deep-sea moorings at Goban Spur off the southwestern Irish shelf.

The work will be carried out by the German research vessel Maria S Merian (Callsign DBBT) and is expected to start on or around Sunday 3 April, lasting for approximately five days, weather permitting.

The top elements of all three moorings are yellow or orange in colour and carry flags as well as radio and Iridium beacons that only signal once the top element is at the surface. Scientific instruments are attached at different depths to ropes and chains. Sub-surface floatation bodies will keep the moorings upright.

As this is sensitive scientific equipment it is requested that fishermen and marine operators engaged in such activities as bottom trawling or laying of static gear avoid the locations concerned.

The moorings will be in place for a period of 12-15 months and will be positioned at the locations detailed in Marine Notice No 12 of 2016, a PDF of which is available to read or download HERE.

#MarineNotice - The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) has been advised that a hydrographic and geophysical survey operation will be undertaken by INFOMAR for the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) off the Mayo coast, in the Celtic Sea and also in the Irish Sea between 21 March and 30 October 2016.

The RV Celtic Voyager (Callsign EIQN), the RV Celtic Explorer (Callsign EIGB), the RV Keary (Callsign EIGO9), the RV Geo (Callsign EIDK6) and the RV Tonn (Callsign: EIPT7) are expected to carry out survey operations and will be listening on VHF Channel 16 throughout the project.

Details of co-ordinates for the survey operations are included in Marine Notice No 11 of 2016, a PDF of which is available to read or download HERE.

#WaterSafety - The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport addresses pleasure and recreational craft owners, masters and users with a brief summary of the legal requirements in relation to the wearing and carrying of lifejackets and buoyancy aids, the penalties arising from non-compliance, as well as advice on the selection and maintenance of personal flotation devices, or PFDs.

The reminder follows from a previous notice in August 2012, and subsequent notices on the care and use of lifejackets, as well as the 27 January edition of This Island Nation concerning good habits over the wearing of PFDs.

Full details can be found in Marine Notice No 10 of 2016, a PDF of which is available to read or download HERE.

#MarineNotice - The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) advises that Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) and SmartBay Ireland will be carrying out the deployment of an underwater array of fish tag detectors in Galway Bay as outlined in Foreshore Licence FS6536.

The deployment operations for the array will take place between Spiddal and Blackhead and in the Corrib and Dunkellin estuaries, which are part of Galway Bay.

The acoustic array consists of 19 individual receivers as detailed in Marine Notice No 8 of 2016, a PDF of which is available to read or download HERE.

Deployment operations will be carried out by MV Tarrea Queen (Callsign EIAC3) and will take place from 3-17 March 2016. Subject to weather conditions, the operations may extend an additional two weeks following this planned period.

Each mooring/receiver will be marked with a subsurface buoy at a depth of >8m to avoid any potential fouling with any craft. All moorings and associated infrastructure will be removed following the completion of the study.

Consultation with fishermen was carried out during the Foreshore Licence process to ensure that equipment was not deployed in areas utilised by commercial fishermen.

All units will be clearly marked with IFI logos and numbered so that any unintentional retrieval can be notified to IFI through the contact details provided in the Marine Notice.