Three wind farm workers have been injured, including one seriously, after their crew transfer vessel struck a turbine at the 312MW Borkum Riffgrund 1 wind farm in the German North Sea.
German maritime search and rescue organisation DGzRS said it responded to the incident after the alarm was raised at 18.25 on Thursday by CTV Njord Forseti.
The seriously injured crew member was treated by an emergency medic who arrived at the scene first from the Siem Barracuda service vessel, which was operating nearby.
“We knew from a previous operation that there was an emergency medic on board. He started the initial care of the injured just a few minutes later,” said DGzRS guard manager Dirk Lindemann.
Authorities meanwhile dispatched the SK40 sea rescue cruiser and a helicopter with an emergency doctor. The customs vessel Helgolan and the multi-purpose ship Mellum also went to the scene of the accident.
The seriously injured worker was taken by the helicopter to the University Hospital Groningen in the Netherlands. One of the injured was taken to Westerstede in Germany, while the other sailor was transferred to the Njord Zephyr.
“The two crew airlifted off have been treated for head injuries and are likely to be released today,” a Njord spokesperson said.
The DGzRS said the collision caused a crack about half a metre long in the vessel’s bow which caused the Njord Forseti to take on water.
The crew managed to keep the water ingress under control using on-board equipment. SK40 accompanied the CTV on his its return trip to Lauwersoog in the Netherlands.
The Njord spokesperson said the company is still investigating the cause of the collision.
Orsted said the CTV was “unrelated” to its operations. “We offered our help with the rescue, but the owner of the vessel was able to handle the situation together with DGzRS,” a spokesperson said.
“We wish the injured crew a speedy recovery,” the spokesperson added.