9.5 Marine Accident Investigation Branch
- All UK flagged vessels and non-UK flagged vessels in UK territorial waters (within 12 nm), a UK port or carrying passengers to a UK port are required to report incidents to the MAIB. Data arising from these reports are assessed within this section, covering the ten year period between 2012 to 2021. Consideration has also been given to the preceding ten year period in section 9.5.1.
- The incidents recorded within the MAIB data between 2012 and 2021 occurring within the shipping and navigation study area are presented in Figure 9.5, colour-coded by incident type. Following this, Figure 9.6 shows the same data colour-coded by casualty type.
Figure 9.5: MAIB Incidents by Incident Type in Proximity to the Site Boundary (2012 to 2021)
Figure 9.6: MAIB Incidents by Casualty Type in Proximity to the Site Boundary (2012 to 2021)
- A total of four incidents documented by the MAIB occurred within the shipping and navigation study area between 2012 and 2021, corresponding to an average of one incident every two to three years. Two of these incidents occurred within the site boundary; one involved a dredger alliding with a buoy in 2018 (at the south-eastern extent of the site boundary) and the other involved a person involved in an accident on a fishing vessel in 2015 (at the north of the site boundary).
- The two other incidents within the shipping and navigation survey area but outside the site boundary involved an accident to a person on a fishing vessel in 2019 (at the south-eastern extent of the shipping and navigation study area) and an accident to a person on an offshore vessel in 2019 (inshore of the site boundary).
9.5.1 Review of 2002 to 2011 MAIB Data
- A review of older MAIB incident data during the previous ten years, i.e. 2002 to 2011, indicated that the frequency of incidents has seen a minor decline over time in this area. Figure 9.7 presents an overview of this data within the shipping and navigation study area, colour-coded by incident type.
Figure 9.7: MAIB Incidents by Incident Type in Proximity to the Site Boundary (2002 to 2011)
- Within the shipping and navigation study area, a total of nine unique incidents (involving ten vessels) documented by the MAIB occurred between 2002 and 2011, corresponding to an average of one incident per year. Compared to the total of four unique incidents between 2012 and 2021, which corresponds to an average of an incident every two to three years, this demonstrates a slight decrease in the number of incidents.
- One incident occurred within the site boundary itself; this occurred in 2011 and involved an accident to a person onboard a fishing vessel.
- The most common incident type documented within the shipping and navigation study area during 2002 and 2011 was ‘accident to person’, which accounted for three out of the nine incidents. The most common casualty type was fishing vessels, accounting for seven out of the ten casualties.
9.6 Historical Offshore Wind Farm Incidents
9.6.1 Incidents Involving UK Offshore Wind Farm Developments
- As of November 2023, there are 42 operational offshore wind farms in the UK, ranging from the North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm (fully commissioned in 2003, located in Liverpool Bay) to Hornsea Project Two (fully commissioned in 2022, located in North Sea). Between them, these developments encompass approximately 22,050 fully operational wind turbine years.
- MAIB incident data has been used to collate a list of reported historical collision and allision incidents involving UK offshore wind farm developments[5], which is summarised in Table 9.1. Incidents have been categorised as involving a project vessel, third party vessel, or both. Other sources have also been used to produce this list including the UK Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) for Aviation and Maritime, International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) (CHIRP, 2023) and basic web searches.
Table 9.1: Summary of Historical Collision and Allision Incidents Involving UK Offshore Wind Farm Developments (2003 to 2022)
Incident Vessel | Incident Type | Date | Description of Incident | Vessel Damage* | Harm to Persons | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Project | Allision | 07 August 2005 | Wind turbine installation vessel allision with wind turbine base whilst manoeuvring alongside it. Minor damage sustained to a gangway on the vessel, the wind turbine tower and a wind turbine blade. | Minor damage to gangway on the vessel | None | MAIB |
Project | Allision | 29 September 2006 | Offshore services vessel allision with rotating wind turbine blade. | None | None | MAIB |
Project | Allision | 08 February 2010 | Work boat allision with disused pile following human error with throttle controls whilst in proximity. Passenger later diagnosed with injuries and no serious damage sustained by vessel. | Minor | Injury | MAIB |
Project / third-party | Collision | 23 April 2011 | Third-party catamaran collision with project guard vessel within harbour. | Moderate | None | MAIB |
Project | Allision | 18 November 2011 | Cable-laying vessel allision with wind turbine foundation following watchkeeping failure. Two hull breaches to vessel. | Major | None | MAIB |
Project / project | Collision | 02 June 2012 | CTV allision with flotel. Nine persons safely evacuated and transferred to nearby vessel before being brought back into port. | Moderate | None | UK CHIRP (CHIRP, 2023) |
Project | Allision | 20 October 2012 | Project vessel allision with wind turbine monopile following human error (misjudgement of distance). Minor damage sustained by vessel. | Minor | None | MAIB |
Project | Allision | 21 November 2012 | Passenger transfer catamaran allision with buoy following navigational error. Vessel abandoned by crew of 12 having been holed, causing extensive flooding but no injuries sustained. | Major | None | MAIB |
Project | Allision | 21 November 2012 | Work boat allision with unlit wind turbine transition piece at moderate speed following navigational error. Vessel able to proceed to port unassisted with no water ingress but some structural damage sustained. | Moderate | None | MAIB |
Project | Allision | 01 July 2013 | Service vessel allision with wind turbine foundation following machinery failure. Minor damage sustained by vessel. | Minor | None | IMCA Safety Flash (CHIRP, 2023) |
Project | Allision | 14 August 2014 | Standby safety vessel allision with wind turbine pile. Oil leaked by vessel which moved away from environmentally sensitive areas until leak was stopped. | Minor with pollution | None | UK CHIRP (CHIRP, 2023) |
Third-party | Allision | 26 May 2016 | Third-party fishing vessel allision with wind turbine following human error (autopilot). Lifeboat attended the incident. | Moderate | Injury | Web search (RNLI, 2016) |
Project | Allision | 14 February 2019 | Survey vessel allided with wind turbine jacket while autopilot was engaged. | Minor | None | MAIB |
Project | Allision | 17 January 2020 | Project vessel allision with wind turbine. Injury sustained by crew member but vessel able to proceed to port unassisted. | None | Injury | Web search (Vessel Tracker, 2020) |
Project | Allision | 27 January 2020 | Project vessel allision with wind turbine. Minor damage to vessel and wind turbine sustained, with no personal injuries. | Minor | None | Marine Safety Forum (2020) |
Third-party | Allision | 09 June 2022 | Fishing vessel allision with wind turbine resulting in damage to vessel and two minor injuries for crew members. RNLI lifeboat escorted vessel under its own power to port. | Minor | Injury | Web search (RNLI, 2022) and web search (Vessel Tracker, 2022) |
(*) As per incident reports.
- The worst consequences reported for vessels involved in a collision or allision incident involving a UK offshore wind farm development has been flooding, with no life-threatening injuries to persons reported.
- As of November 2023, there have been no third-party collisions directly as a result of the presence of an offshore wind farm in the UK. The only reported collision incident in relation to a UK offshore wind farm involved a project vessel hitting a third-party vessel whilst in harbour.
- As of November 2023, there have been 13 reported cases of an allision between a vessel and a wind turbine (under construction, operational or disused) in the UK, with all but one involving a support vessel for the development. Therefore, there has been an average of 1,696 years per wind turbine allision incident in the UK, noting that this is a conservative calculation given that only operational wind turbine hours have been included (whereas allision incidents counted include non-operational wind turbines).