Dudgeon’s operator Equinor has presented those aboard the Esvagt Njord vessel with a Safety Award, to honour their life-saving actions in the rescue of seven fishermen.
The incident occurred on 15 December 2020, when HM Coastguard received an emergency beacon alert from the fishing vessel GALWAD-Y-MOR and initiated a search and rescue response for those on-board.
The crew had abandoned to their life-raft following a report of an explosion and the vessel taking on water.
The Esvagt Njord responded to the signal, using its fast rescue boat.
Those onboard the Njord rescued all seven crew within 22 minutes of being notified.
Having received immediate medical attention and further treatment at hospital, all seven males recovered well.
The Esvagt Njord is a service operations vessel (SOV) servicing Dudgeon offshore wind farm off the Great Yarmouth coast.
The vessel is home for the teams of technicians as they stay offshore in the wind farm, two weeks at a time.
Pete Lowson, offshore energy liaison Officer at HM Coastguard, said: “I would like to pass on my thanks to the crew of the Esvagt Njord for their support during this incident, particularly to the medic and those who treated the crew for their injuries.
“It is another example of the excellent resource which can be provided by the offshore renewables industry to support maritime search and rescue.”
Equinor, which operates the wind farm, has awarded all employees and contractors involved in the rescue from the Dudgeon windfarm with a safety award to acknowledge their exemplary handling of the situation.
Sonja Chirico Indrebo, plant manager for Dudgeon offshore wind farm, said: “We wanted to present this Safety Award to recognise all involved, including the crews from Esvagt Njord and Green Storm, the International SOS paramedic, the coordinator, the warehouse operator and technicians, for their life-saving actions.
“With our operations out at sea, it’s incredibly important that both our technician teams and the vessel crews are highly trained to deal with any kind of incident that could happen whilst offshore.”