Ramsgte digs deep for wind farm vessels

Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, 12km east of North Foreland, was acquired in November 2008 by Stockholm based Vattenfall AB which also owns and operates the nearby Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm. 100 Vestas V90 turbines generating a total of 300MW, enough to supply 240,000 homes, will be operating at the Thanet site once completed in 2010, at which time it will become the largest operational offshore wind farm in the world. This claim to fame will however be surpassed by the even larger proposed London Array Wind Farm close by where almost 300 turbines are planned. Ramsgate has been chosen as the shore base for the construction phase of the Thanet Wind Farm and a section of the outer ‘Port’ area of the harbour is currently being developed for the work, including an alongside berth and shoreside facilities. Transeuropa Ferries operate a regular service to Ostend from two Ro-Ro berths also in the port.

The area around No.1 berth had silted up over the years and Vattenfall embarked on a major dredging programme to increase the depth to 6m. Three grab hopper dredgers were brought in to carry out the work, which eventually became a round the clock operation. The first dredger to arrive was the Admiral Day. Originally built for Dover Harbour Board and later operating at Great Yarmouth it is now owned by Wyre Marine Services of Fleetwood. It was later joined by another Wyre Marine dredger, the Lantic Bay. Last month a third similar dredger, the Cherry Sand arrived. It is operated by UK Dredging, a part of Associated British Ports. Another UK Dredging vessel, the trailing suction hopper dredger UKD Marlin was also to be seen working in the port at the same time.

Construction work at the offshore site also began in earnest last month with the arrival of the jack-up barge Sea Jack, which has now installed the first of the turbine monopiles. Owned by A2SEA A/S of Denmark, the 95m LOA Sea Jack has been modified for offshore wind turbine installation duties, its Manitowoc M1200 ringer crane able to operate at a height of up to 115m for the installation of all the constituent parts of the turbines. Initially the vessel was operating out of Ijmuiden but it is due to make Ramsgate its supply base once dredging work is completed.

The Sea Jack was supported by the Bever, a Shoalbuster 3612 tug from the fleet of Viegers & Zn. based at Andijk in the Netherlands, and the 33m, 2700kw ASD tug Stevns Arctic owned by Stevns Charter & Towage, part of the Danish Nordane Shipping group. The Offshore Performer, a recently delivered South Boats Special Projects 15m aluminium vessel from the fleet of Conwy based Offshore Wind Power Marine Services Ltd, is providing logistical support.

The construction site occupies a busy area, with shipping bound to and from the Thames and Medway and through traffic transiting to and from the nearby Dover Strait Traffic Separation scheme passing nearby. A guard vessel is in attendance when the Sea Jack is off site. Five new cardinal buoys have been laid at the site, close to the existing Drill Stone cardinal buoy. An Admiralty Notice to Mariners (ANM 841(P)/2009) provides details of the work, which is expected to last for 22 months.

Work onshore is also continuing apace with the construction of the sub-station and associated cabling at the former Richborough Power Station close to Ramsgate harbour. At the port itself assembly has started of the navigation aid towers for the monopile foundations. The structures house navigation lights and radar reflectors and will mark the monopiles until the transition pieces and turbines are installed.

Ramsgate is also making preparations for the start-up of a new high speed ferry service to Boulogne. UK based Euroferries, in association with Fred. Olsen Express have announced that the 37 knot, 96m Incat wavepiercing catamaran ferry Bonanza Express, currently operated by Fred. Olsen on their Canary Islands services, has been earmarked for the route. The service is due to commence before the summer 2009 season starts.