Niras Readies for Gwynt y Môr Benthic Survey

Niras Consulting Ltd (Niras) will be undertaking a benthic drop down camera and Day grab survey for scientific monitoring purposes to the south, west and within the 576MW Gwynt y Môr wind farm site offshore Wales during October 2016, according to a notice to mariners.

Niras will use the vessel Aquadynamic to carry out the survey which is expected to require 7 days at sea.

The operations are planned to take place between the 3rd and 23rd October. Survey days may not be consecutive, and timing will be subject to weather and sea conditions.

Survey work will be carried out predominantly in daylight hours.

The 12-metre Aquadynamic will operate on a daily basis from Conwy, North Wales.

Mariners have been advised to give a wide berth to Aquadynamic at all times as the vessel will be restricted in her ability to manoeuvre whilst survey equipment is deployed.

Gwynt y Môr is the second largest operating offshore wind farm in the world, comprising 160 Siemens 3.6MW turbines. The wind farm has been in operation since 2015, and was built jointly by RWE, Siemens, and the municipal utilities of Munich.