INFOMAR will conduct a programme of hydrographic and geophysical surveys in the Celtic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Irish Sea and western coastal areas between March and November this year.

Covering some 125,000sqkm of underwater territory, INFOMAR (Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resource) aims to produce integrated mapping products covering the physical, chemical and biological features of the seabed.

Along the lines of last year’s surveys, the 2022 operation will involve research vessels from Geological Survey Ireland (Keary, Geo, Lir, Galtee and Mallet) and the Marine Institute (Celtic Voyager and either the Celtic Explorer or the new RV Tom Crean) in a variety of surveys.

All vessels will display appropriate lights and markers, and will be listening on VHF Channel 16 throughout the course of the survey.

The Marine Institute vessels will also each be towing a magnetometer sensor with a single cable of up to 200 metres in length, and a moving vessel profiler cable of variable length up to a maximum of 200 metres.

Further details — including coordinates, maps and contact information — can be found in Marine Notice No 11 of 2022 which is attached below.

Marine Notice 37 of 2021 advised of the deployment of one floating lidar buoy and two wave buoys at the Dublin Array offshore wind farm on the Bray and Kish Banks.

The Department of Transport has now been advised by Partrac Ltd that all three Metocean buoys are scheduled to be serviced soon over a period of two days.

Weather permitting, it is expected that the two wave buoys will be recovered and redeployed in the three-week period between tomorrow, Friday 11 February and Friday 4 March.

The floating lidar buoy will be towed from its location on Bray Bank to Wicklow Harbour for routine maintenance overnight and towed back to Bray Bank for redeployment in its current position. This recovery and redeployment will take place in the three-week period between Thursday 24 February 2022 and Friday 18 March.

The AMS Retriever (callsign MEHI8) will recover and redeploy all three buoys. The floating lidar buoy will be towed some 30 metres astern of the AMS Retriever at a maximum speed of 3.5 knots.

During this time, the vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre. As such, 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.

Radio transmissions will be conducted with VTS and other seafarers to notify them of the buoy operations.

Coordinates of the buoy locations and contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 10 of 2022, attached below.

Geophysical survey works as part of a scientific data-gathering exercise for the Lir Offshore Array are set to begin this week.

Survey company Ondine will be carrying out these works from Wednesday 9 February until the end of April, weather permitting, in the Irish Sea roughly offshore of South Louth, Meath and North Fingal.

A research vessel, DP1 Kommandor Iona (callsign GAAK) will be used to carry out the work on a 24/7 basis. The vessel will be towing geophysical equipment during operations and the vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre.

Coordinates and maps of the survey area are included in Marine Notice No 09 of 2022, which can be found attached below.

All other vessels operating within this area are requested to keep their distance and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash. Radio transmissions will be conducted with other seafarers to notify them of the operations.

TechWorks Marine plans to deploy four trawl-resistant bottom mounted acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP) frames in Castlemaine and Valentia off the coast of Co Kerry from this Monday 7 February.

Weather permitting, the Ocean Navigator (callsign EI018) will deploy the four trawl-resistant, bottom-mounted ADCPs frames — each of around one square metre in area — on the seabed for a minimum of one month and a maximum of two months, between this week and Monday 21 February.

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

The ADCPs will be measuring currents through the water column at each location over the course of their month-long deployment. This data will be used to validate a hydrodynamic model being developed of the area for Irish Water.

There will be no surface marker during the extent of deployment so vessel traffic will not need to avoid the area but should be aware of its presence. Throughout operations, the Ocean Navigator will be displaying appropriate lights and shapes.

Details of the exact locations of the ADCP frames and other information for mariners are included in Marine Notice No 08 of 2022, which can be downloaded below.

The Department of Transport has issued a reminder of a number of Marine Notices regarding safety at sea, following the recommendations of a report into a fatal incident involving a fishing boat near Galway city 15 months ago.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, 37-year-old Tom Oliver — a relative of the Olivers who rescued two paddle boarders in Galway Bay in August 2020 — died after he became entangled in gear and was dragged over the stern of the six-metre fishing vessel Myia on 2 November 2020.

The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report into the incident found that the weather deteriorated “significantly” after the FV Myia left harbour that day.

It added that “violent movements” generated by the worsening sea conditions while feeding out shrimp pots may have been a contributory factor.

But it also found that the use of a mobile phone to make a distress call — instead of a Mayday call over VHF radio or activating a personal locator beacon — “added some delay, however short, in the alert of the emergency services”.

The report also found that the casualty was not wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) or lifejacket while operating on an open deck in hazardous conditions.

Following this report, Marine Notice No 07 of 2022 highlights a number of prior notices regarding the correct used of PFDs, the use of VHF radio (also here), fishing vessel safety and the dangers of potting operations (also here), and the importance of weather forecasts and voyage planning (also here).

The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport advises of “serious safety risks” for vessels” around plans by the Russian military to conduct live-fire exercises off the Cork coast from next week.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, concerns have been raised over what’s been termed as a “major” military exercise by the Russian navy and air force in international waters in the Atlantic, some 240km off Co Cork but within Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Marine Notice No 06 of 2022 — which is attached below — provides coordinates of the area where the naval manoeuvres will be conducted between next Thursday 3 and Tuesday 8 February.

“The Russian Federation has indicated that the exercises will include the use of naval artillery and launching of rockets,” the notice emphasises.

“Given the nature of the planned exercises and the presence of naval forces, vessels and crew are advised of serious safety risks in the operational area. Masters should navigate their vessel to ensure safety at all times.”

The notice comes as the Irish fishing fleet have been assured that their fishing grounds will not be affected by the military exercise.

As the Irish Examiner reports, fishing industry representatives met Russian ambassador Yury Filatov upon his invitation to discuss the planned naval and air force drills and it was agreed that there will be a “buffer zone” in place between Russian vessels and fishing trawlers, pending approval from Moscow.

Brendan Byrne of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association said following the meeting: “It has been a very good day for the Irish fishing industry.”

Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation chief Patrick Murphy added that it was up to individual fishing trawlers as to whether they will fish the affected grounds, which open on 1 February.

Concerns have also been expressed about the potential impact on marine wildlife in the area, including vulnerable deep-water whale species. Afloat.ie has more HERE.

Survey operations conducted by an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) are taking place in Dundalk Bay this week.

The remotely piloted X-09 — from Greenore-based Xocean — was scheduled to launch from Clogherhead, Co Louth today, Tuesday 25 January, for the weeklong survey.

It will be engaged in survey activities supporting environmental research in the area. The survey will utilise multibeam echosounder to characterise the seabed across the site.

The USV sends real-time images and situational awareness data over satellite to a team of operators keeping watch and controlling the vessel remotely 24/7.

A Radio Navigation Warning will be in place during operations, and the USV has been made conspicuous to other marine traffic via its yellow superstructure, AIS, navigation lights and sound signal, and active radar reflector.

Coordinates and maps of the survey area are included in Marine Notice No 05 of 2022, attached below.

All other vessels operating within this area are requested to avoid contact with the USV and be aware of the operational area during this period.

The first and second legs of this year’s Irish Anglerfish and Megrim Survey (IAMS 2022) will be carried out from next Saturday 5 February to Tuesday 1 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 2022 will take place within a three-nautical-mile radius of the positions indicated in Appendices 1 and 2 of Marine Notice No 04 of 2022, 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 data company Partrac is planning to deploy Metocean instrumentation at the North Ireland Sea Area (NISA) over a two-day period from tomorrow, Monday 17 January.

The survey campaign covers two sites in NISA off North Co Dublin, Meath and Louth. Site A instruments will remain deployed for 12 months, while Site B instruments will be deployed for six months.

Both sites will have an accompanying guard buoy and wave buoy. The guard buoys are Poseidon 1750 Ocean Buoys, which have a hull diameter of 1.75m and height above water level of 2.6m. Both will be yellow in colour and display St Andrew’s Cross day shapes.

They will be fitted with a radar reflector and a navigation light with a 3nm range, flashing sequence: Fl (5) Y 20s. The guard buoy deployed at Site A will also be fitted with AIS.

The wave buoys are yellow spherical buoys with a diameter of approximately 1.1m, fitted with a yellow navigation light with a 3nm range, flashing sequence: Fl (5) Y 20s.

A Damen Shoalbuster 2409 versatile multi-purpose and shallow draft tug named AMS Retriever (Callsign MEHI8) will carry out the work.

During operations the vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre. 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, a map of the array area and contact details are included in Marine Notice No 03 of 2022, attached below.

Further to previous installation works on the Havhingsten fibre optic telecommunication cable system in the Irish Sea, post-lay inspection and burial (PLIB) of the cable is planned to begin later this week.

Works outside Irish and Isle of Man territorial waters are will start on Friday 14 January and continue until next Thursday 20 January, subject to weather.

It is advised that extra care is taken when vessels are operating near this area and that no vessel should trawl within 500m.

Installation will be via industry-standard burial tools including water jetting with remote operated vehicle (ROV). The target cable burial depth is 1.5m below seabed level in the region.

There will be two locations where PLIB will be performed: at Final Splice (FS) location outside Irish territorial waters, and at Branching Unit (BU) location outside of Isle of Man territorial waters.

The operations will be conducted by the cable installation vessel CS Ile d’Aix (callsign FICI) which will be working on a 24-hour basis, and will 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.

For more information, including coordinates and contact details, see Marine Notice No 01 of 2022 attached below.