This is an update for Mariners on the progress of the survey work that is being carried out along the Western HVDC Link cable route by the vessel Edda Sun. The work started in October 2021 and is due to be completed in November. An updated Notice to Mariners detailing these operations is summarised below and can be downloaded here.
Survey Work
The vessel Edda Sun is carrying out an ROV survey of each of the Western HVDC link cables. The survey will cover the entire cable route from Hunterston in the Firth of Clyde, through the North Channel, to the west and south of the Isle of Man and then towards the Wirral coast.
The survey will cover the deep-water extent of each cable. This deep-water survey will abut the extent of the shallow water surveys carried out in August-September of this year. Four rock bags are also due to be installed at the location where Cable 2 crosses the BT Manx-Northern Ireland cable.
The planned schedule of works is:-
- Cable 1: Hunterston to Liverpool Bay, 18th October to 13th November 2021; then
- Cable 2: Liverpool Bay to Hunterston, 13th to 18th November 2021.
- Cable 2: Installation of 4 x rock bags at KP186.311 (005º 10.406’W 054º16.291’N), 19th November 2021.
These dates are subject to weather and sea conditions over this period.
The location of the survey work is illustrated in a map in the Notice to Mariners that can be downloaded here.
Vessel details
The Edda Sun is an 85.3m dedicated ROV Support Vessel. It has a red hull and a white superstructure. Information about the vessel, including its current location, can be found at the Marine Traffic website using the link below:-
- Edda Sun: Research / survey vessel | Call sign LARF7
The survey vessel will operate on a 24 hour basis. Throughout survey operations, the vessel will follow normal regulations at sea and it will show restricted manoeuvrability signal when in DP mode (lights on mast).
The vessel involved in this work may be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre and other vessels are reminded to pass at a safe speed and maintain a wide berth of at least 250m distance.
Notices to Mariners
Mariners are advised that the survey work on shallow water sections of the cable route were completed in September 2021, and are now rescinded.