Siemens Gamesa is investigating the cause of a collision between a wind turbine blade and a gangway linking a jack-up to a transition piece at Otary’s 487MW SeaMade project off Belgium.
A turbine blade is understood to have rotated into the gangway from DEME Offshore jack-up Apollo, causing the walk-to-work unit to fall into the sea.
A spokesperson for Otary said the incident occurred early on Friday 2 July and that no workers were injured.
“Minor damage to the vessel has been repaired and the transition piece and blade are currently under investigation,” the Otary spokesperson said.
Siemens Gamesa said it is investigating the cause of the incident.
“Siemens Gamesa is cooperating with all necessary authorities and involved project partners,” a spokesperson for the turbine manufacturer said.
“Based on evaluations to date, Siemens Gamesa has taken all necessary safety measures to assure safe operations. All relevant findings from the ongoing investigation will be integrated into Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy work processes.”
A new walk-to-work gangway has been fitted on Apollo which resumed turbine installation work earlier this week.
The Otary spokesperson said the sunken gangway will be recovered as soon as possible.
Apollo has installed five of the project’s 58 Siemens Gamesa 8.4MW turbines since starting work last month.