Ship Hits Wind Farm Piling, Spills Fuel

Published Aug 14, 2014 7:32 PM by The Maritime Executive

The UK’s Liverpool Coastguard is currently coordinating the recovery of a ship damaged following a collision with a wind turbine pile at Walney Wind Farm, off Barrow-in-Furness.

The Liverpool Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) received a call reporting that the standby safety vessel, OMS Pollux, had collided with a pile supporting a turbine. The vessel has since been leaking marine gas oil (diesel).

The Danish-registered vessel, with a crew of around 18 on board, remains afloat and there are no reported injuries. OMS Pollux has moved under its own power to its current location north of the Port of Liverpool limits and away from environmentally sensitive areas. The Barrow lifeboat attended the incident and the ship was escorted in relay by the Barrow, Lytham and Hoylake lifeboats.

The fixed-wing aircraft from Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s counter pollution team has made a flypast and reports that a surface sheen, 5-10m wide and around 0.7 nautical miles in length is trailing the vessel. Unlike heavier forms of fuel, marine gas oil should evaporate or disperse naturally.

The OMS Pollux will remain offshore outside the Liverpool Port Authority limits until the leak has been stopped. The multi-agency Environment Group set up to respond to this type of incident, and comprising local authorities, emergency services, government agencies and other stakeholders, is meeting this afternoon to assess the local situation.

The Liverpool MRCC is in constant contact with the vessel and is also monitoring the situation. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has been informed.