Wind Farm Installation Barge Aground Off Denmark

The wind farm installation jackup platform Sea Worker has gone aground off the west coast of Denmark. 

Operator A2SEA evacuated the fifteen crew members of the platform before the grounding, and no injuries were reported. The evacuation was completed at 0300 hours local time January 27 by a lifeboat from Hvide Sand. 

A2SEA said that the vessel was caught by adverse weather and that a tow line from her tug parted, leaving her to drift in to the coast. Shortly after the evacuation she grounded off Nymindegab, south of Hvide Sande. 

The crew were transported to a hotel for debriefing and evaluation. A response team from A2SEA are on site.

At present there is no evidence of hull penetration or pollution, and authorities are monitoring the situation. 

At the time of the incident, Sea Worker was underway from Frederikshavn to Esbjerg as part of her operations on a project in German waters. She has the capacity for carriage and installation of two complete turbines per trip, a 400-ton crane for lifting components, and a maximum jackup height of over 100 feet above the water. 

In November, high winds parted the Sea Worker's lines at pier in the port of Grenaa, and she drifted downwind into the ferry Stena Nautica, causing minor damage and the cancellation of the Nautica's next trip.  Grenaa Rescue Station reported waves of two to three meters in the harbor at the time of the incident.