Dutch maritime research institute Marin this week tested three barriers aimed at averting collisions between ships and wind turbines.
The research was prompted by an incident involving the Julietta D on 31 January this year, which saw the drifting bulk carrier initially collide with a tanker before hitting a transformer platform and a turbine foundation for the Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm.
A group of 20 experts from Marin and the wider maritime sector developed a trio of concepts for maritime crash barriers between shipping routes and wind farms during a 23 February workshop.
The first concept involves a string of surface buoys secured by drag anchors.
The second concept comprises a smart suspension net between fixed poles and the third is an anchored underwater hook line designed to catch the anchor of the drifting vessel.
Marin built scale models of all three solutions and ran tests in its Offshore Basin on 17 and 18 March to see if the barriers were capable of deflecting a scale model comparable to the Julietta D in storm conditions.
Marin general director Bas Buchner said: “Our mission statement includes both marine safety and sustainable sea use.
“That means more than simply drawing attention to the dangers; it means going in search of solutions to prevent accidents.
“We were keen to do this in tandem with experts from the offshore sector and that’s why we opted for an open innovation project.
“We gave it the working title ‘crash barriers at sea’ because many wind farms are planned near traffic separation schemes: the freeways of the sea.”