February 1, 2022
Netherlands

Vessel collides with Hollandse Kust Zuid foundation

By Tom Russell | 01/02/2022 | www.4coffshore.com

The collision of two vessels, cargo ship Julietta D and oil tanker Pechora Star, has resulted in one of the vessels being left rudderless and later striking a platform foundation at the Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm off the Dutch coast.

The collision occurred mid-afternoon yesterday (31st January), reportedly when Julietta D broke free from its anchor off IJmuiden and hit Pechora Star. All personnel aboard Julietta D were evacuated by helicopter. The Dutch Coast Guard was assisted by a helicopter from the Belgian Coast Guard. Pechora Star was stable after the collision.

While it was adrift, Julietta D collided with an platform foundation at the Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm. The extent of the damage is yet to be determined.

According to the Dutch Coastguard, the situation on board the Pechora Star is stable and three tugs are on site with Julietta D to tow it in to port today (1 February 2022).

The Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm zone consists of two sites, Hollandse Kust Zuid 1&2 and Hollandse Kust Zuid 3&4, and is being developed by Vattenfall, which secured the rights to the projects with subsidy free bids in March 2018 and July 2019.

The wind farms are located between 18 and 36 kilometres off the Dutch coast, between the Hague and Zandvoort. They will be fitted with 140 units of Siemens Gamesa 11 MW, SG 11.0-200 DD offshore turbines. Once the wind farm is operational, the 140 wind turbines will produce more than 6 TWh of green electricity annually.

It is owned by Vattenfall (50.5% stake), BASF (24.3% stake), and Allianz (25.2% stake).

Offshore construction of the wind farm will start in July 2021. Once fully operational, the wind farm will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world with 140 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 1.5 GW. The Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm will also be one of the first offshore wind farms in the world which does not receive any price subsidies for the power produced. The project is expected to become fully operational in 2023.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2022/02/01/vessel-collides-with-hollandse-kust-zuid-foundation/