The Marine Survey Office (MSO) of the Irish Maritime Administration has completed a review of security risk assessments for vessels and ports engaged in domestic shipping operation on the Irish coast.

This review was conducted as part of the obligations under EU Regulation (EC) No 725/2004 – Enhancing Ship and Port Facility Security, which entered into force on 31 March 2004.

The objective of this Regulation is to introduce and implement measures aimed at enhancing the security of ships used in international and domestic trade, and associated port facilities within EU member states, in the face of threats of intentional unlawful acts.

Article 3.3 of the Regulation requires that member states shall, after a mandatory security risk assessment, decide the extent to which they will apply the provisions of this Regulation to different categories of ships operating on national domestic services, their companies and the port facilities serving them, and this is subject to periodic review.

Details of the maritime security measures to be applied as a result of this review are outlined in Marine Notice No 9 of 2023, which is available to read or download below. This notice supersedes Marine Notice No 61 of 2013 which is hereby revoked.

PSE Kinsale Energy Limited will be carrying out pipeline and debris clearance surveys commencing on or around Friday 17 February, weather depending.

The approximately 10 days of surveys will take place along the routes of decommissioned — but remaining in-situ — pipeline routes for the Kinsale Head and Seven Heads Gas Fields in the Celtic Sea and around the locations of removed subsea equipment and wellheads.

A number of surveys will be carried out during the campaign to confirm the status of decommissioned pipelines and umbilicals, which will be left in situ, and to confirm the location of any debris to be removed at the sites of decommissioned subsea facilities.

The surveys will be conducted by the State’s latest research vessel RV Tom Crean (callsign EIYX3), which will operate during day and night hours and will display appropriate lights and signals.

Within each of the defined survey areas, the vessel will be undertaking acoustic survey works using single/multi beam echo sounders and more.

All other vessels, particularly those engaged in fishing, are requested to leave a wide berth during the operations, pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash, and keep a sharp lookout in the relevant areas. The vessel can be contacted on VHF Channel 13.

Full details of relevant coordinates, a map of the campaign area and contact information can be found in Marine Notice No 4 of 2023, attached below.

Deep-water quay works have begun this week at Ros an Mhíl Fishery Harbour Centre in Co Galway, just weeks after the contractor was announced for the €30 million project.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the new Ros an Mhíl development will be accessible to large vessels such as Naval Service vessels, Marine Institute research vessels, marine survey vessels and marine leisure craft.

The works were set to begin on Monday 30 January, will be ongoing until December 2024 and include, but are not limited to, the following main elements:

• Construction of a new 200m-long quay wall structure, including all associated infilling and land reclamation;
• Construction of reclamation area of circa 2.4 hectares to act as a quay/storage hinterland area;
• Dredging of a 30m wide x 200m long berthing pocket adjacent to the new quay to a depth of -10.0m Chart Datum;
• Dredging of a navigation channel and turning circle to a depth of -7.0m A;
• Provision of all water and electrical services;
• Heavy-duty pavement surfacing to new quay structure area;
• Ancillary marine facilities and services; and
• Security and access arrangements for quay facilities.

The works are being advanced by civil engineering crews working from the adjacent lands, existing harbour infrastructure and from jack-up barges, pontoons, heavy civil engineering plant and machinery, work vessels and platforms. Divers are also employed on site.

For safety reasons, mariners are advised to proceed slowly and with caution in the approach channel to the inner harbour and within the inner harbour area and to give the works a clear berth. Wave-wash from vessels should be avoided.

For contact details and a plan of proposed works, see Marine Notice No 8 of 2023, attached below.

The first and second legs of this year’s Irish Anglerfish and Megrim Survey (IAMS 2023) will be carried out from Saturday 11 February to Tuesday 7 March.

Surveys will be conducted to the West, Southwest and South Coasts of Ireland by the Marine Institute in fulfilment of Ireland’s obligations under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

IAMS is a demersal trawl survey consisting of approximately 110 otter trawls, each of 60 minutes duration, in ICES areas 7b, 7c, 7g, 7h, 7j and 7k.

Fishing in 2023 will take place within a three-nautical-mile radius of the positions indicated in Appendices 1 and 2 of Marine Notice No 02 of 2023, a PDF of which is attached 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 Jackson demersal trawl during fishing operations.

The Marine Institute requests that commercial fishing and other marine operators keep a 3nm radius area around the tow points clear of any gear or apparatus during the survey period.

Further details are included in the Marine Notice below.

Marine Notice No 7 of 2023 advises of a safety notice issued by the Dutch Safety Board for rocket parachute flares relating to model L-35 or L-35A manufactured by LECEA Sistemas Pirotécnicos Avanzados, S.A. The manufacturer has also issued a recall notice.

All owners of a Red Rocket Parachute Flare from Pirolec, type L-35/L35A, batch 0525/2021–113 are requested to stop using flares from this batch and replace them. If in doubt, operators should contact the manufacturer at [email protected].

This safety alert follows a fatal incident onboard a Dutch vessel when a flare reportedly exploded prematurely during an attempted launch.

It is important to note that the SOLAS Convention requires no less than 12 rocket parachute flares, complying with the requirements of the Life-Saving Appliances Code, shall be carried and be stowed on or near the navigation bridge.

Energia intends to deploy marine acoustic monitoring equipment off the coasts of Co Waterford and Co Wexford between now and 24 February, subject to weather and operational constraints.

The deployments are part of works for Energia’s North Celtic Sea and South Irish Sea offshore wind projects in these respective areas.

The North Celtic Sea is a renewable energy project proposed to be located a minimum of 10km and up to 25km off the Co Waterford Coast. The South Irish Sea project, meanwhile, is proposed to be located a minimum of 10km and up to 25km off the coasts of Wexford and south Wicklow.

Acoustic monitoring equipment will remain on site for a period of three to four months, weather window permitting. After this period the devices will be retrieved and redeployed at new locations, that will continue to cover a 12-month period.

The equipment consists of four acoustic devices and their moorings, which will be used to monitor for marine mammal activity in the proposed wind park areas.

Deployments in both areas will be conducted by the MV Sharp Shooter (callsign EI5069). As this vessel will be deploying survey equipment, it will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre. All other vessels are requested to leave a wide berth during the operations and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

The MV Sharp Shooter will be monitoring VHF Channel 16 and Working on VHF Channel 6. All operations will be during the hours of daylight only. Throughout survey operations, the vessels will be displaying the appropriate lights and shapes.

For more on the acoustic devices, their planned locations, relevant maps and contact details, see Marine Notice No 5 of 2023 and Marine Notice No 6 of 2023, attached below.

LCF Marine have planned to deploy two data buoys in Tralee Bay this week as part of dredge monitoring for Fenit Harbour.

The buoys were scheduled to be deployed on Monday 23 January subject to weather and operational constraints.

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

The buoys will be in place for 10 weeks at the coordinates indicated in Marine Notice No 3 of 2023, which is attached below.

These data buoys will be deployed on a single point mooring consisting of 19mm diameter chain and a on-tonne sinker weight.

A lantern on each buoy will give out five yellow flashes every 20 seconds. The light is visible for up to three nautical miles.

The data buoys are yellow in colour and each buoy is equipped with a navigational beacon, radar reflector, St Andrew’s cross, GSM antennas, solar panels, lead batteries, instrument cables and a TechWorks Marine Black Box.

Works vessel An tOileanach (callsign EI-5930) has been employed to deploy the buoys. During the deployment and recovery, radio transmissions will be conducted on VHF channels and will be monitored on Channel 14 (Fenit Harbour working channel) and Channel 16.

During operations the work vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre, and all other vessels are requested to leave a wide berth during the deployment operations.

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.