Blog

Mon 21 Sep 2015 by Philip Woodcock Several initiatives are underway to record safety statistics in the offshore wind industry, but more needs to be done A small piece of history was achieved with regard to health and safety reporting in the offshore wind industry at Seawork 2015, when the National Workboat Association (NWA), whichRead more

Wed 18 Feb 2015 in Crew Boats, OWJ Support / Installation Vessels by Philip Woodcock A little over a year ago, the shipping press was full of negative articles about crewboat safety in the offshore wind industry following the release of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report 23/2013 on Windcat 9 and Island Panther.Read more

Mon 27 Jan 2014 by Philip Woodcock Whole-body vibration (WBV) is a subject that is receiving more and more attention from the operators and charterers of windfarm service vessels (WFSVs) in the offshore renewable energy sector, with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency having published Marine Guidance Notices (MGN) 353 and 436 to better explain TheRead more

Fri 17 Mar 2017 A dedicated SOV can provide a range of options from supporting CTVs to in-field communications With the market for high spec construction and remotely operated vehicle support vessels at a record low, owners are looking to opportunities elsewhere, in the renewables sector, as Philip Woodcock* explains With Clarksons Research estimating thatRead more

Tue 18 Jul 2017 Unmanned aerial vehicles are widely used on land but their use at sea is more complicated Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones undoubtedly have a big role to play in the offshore wind industry but teething problems involving their use from vessels need to be addressed before their use can become widespread,Read more

Mon 15 Sep 2014 by Philip Woodcock As the designated person ashore as defined by chapter 4 of the International Safety Management Code (ISM Code) for a company that operates windfarm service vessels (WFSVs), I spend much of my time investigating incidents and accidents that occur in the fleet. Over the past three years, IRead more

Wed 31 Jan 2018 Drones are increasingly widely used to inspect offshore structures As Philip Woodcock explains, non-destructive testing (NDT) is an increasingly commonly used technique in the maintenance of offshore windfarms but do we really know what it is? Non-destructive testing is the process of inspecting, testing or evaluating materials, components or assemblies forRead more

Tue 18 Jul 2017 The decision by the BG Verkehr has driven up operating costs on German windfarm and could adversely affect safety In April, the German maritime authority, BG Verkehr, made a decision that has greatly restricted the employment of many experienced masters of foreign crew transfer vessels on German windfarms. As Philip Woodcock*Read more

Fri 13 Jan 2017 by Philip Woodcock Masters of crew transfer vessels need to bear in mind that there are risks at every stage of a voyage, not just when transferring personnel Technology on crew transfer vessels (CTVs) is evolving rapidly, but despite this fast pace of change, working on a transfer vessel can beRead more

Wed 22 Jan 2014 by Philip Woodcock Since 20 August 2013 when the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) came into force, the question of whether windfarm support vessels (WFSVs) need to comply with the MLC has been a potential issue for the offshore wind industry, and for some, the answer is still unclear. For UK-flagged workboatsRead more