NASH Maritime is undertaking vessel traffic surveys in the North Sea which will be used in the navigation risk assessment for the Buchan Offshore Wind project.
Located 75km northeast off Fraserburgh with a capacity of around 1GW, it is expected that the Buchan Offshore Wind project will put Scotland at the forefront of floating wind and bring significant benefits for its supply chain.
“We are delighted to be continuing support to the Buchan Offshore Wind project having provided support since the early stages of the Scotwind leasing,” said Brocque Preece, offshore energy business lead, NASH Maritime.
Risk assessment
NASH Maritime’s surveys are a key phase in developing a baseline understanding of how the development area is used.
Later in the year, during winter, the company will be doing further vessel activity surveys to ensure its data is seasonally representative.
As well as using observers to log recreational and fishing vessel activity, the vessel traffic surveys collect radar track data and vessel transponder data (AIS).
Using its own, near real-time, upload and processing system, NASH Maritime will subsequently analyse the post-processed data to develop a quantitative understanding of the area.
This will be used as a baseline to inform navigation risk assessment and facilitate stakeholder consultation for the project.
NASH Maritime is providing specialist input to support design development of the project, as well as undertaking the navigation risk assessment associated with the EIA being led by Natural Power.
The Buchan Offshore Wind project is being developed by Buchan Offshore Wind Limited, a joint venture between BayWa r.e., BW Ideol and Elicio.
