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Assessing the impacts to vessel traffic from offshore wind farms in the Thames Estuary

Assessing the impacts to vessel traffic from offshore wind farms in the Thames Estuary
Assessing the impacts to vessel traffic from offshore wind farms in the Thames Estuary
The development of offshore renewable energy installations can introduce additional hazards to the safe navigation of shipping in often already crowded waterways. Developers and decision makers must predict and properly manage the potential risks imposed on navigating vessels from wind farm developments, in a complex and uncertain environment. Considerable analysis has been undertaken to model navigational risks to vessel traffic around wind farms; however this work is generally predictive and there is little understanding as to whether the modelling, central to the consideration of navigation safety, accurately reflects the post-constructed navigation risks. It is therefore important for decision makers to understand the uncertainties present in the analysis, both in terms of the assessment of risk and the implementation of any risk reduction measures. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the change in vessel traffic in the Thames Estuary before and after the construction of five offshore wind farms. The analysis demonstrates how the impact on vessel traffic is specific to the location of each development, driven by traffic management measures and other local constraints. Therefore the accurate modelling of this impact requires the input of experienced navigators, regulators and other knowledgeable stakeholders. The results of this analysis can be used to improve the predictive modelling of vessel traffic around offshore wind farms and other offshore installations, leading to a reduction in the uncertainty of vessel traffic modelling in the future.
navigational safety, offshore, wind farms, AIS, vessel traffic, risk analysis
1733-8670
99-107
Rawson, Andrew David
2f5d38d7-f4c9-45f5-a8de-c7f91b8f68c7
Rogers, Edward
76a78e34-9160-4a38-a68a-caedee8bf659
Rawson, Andrew David
2f5d38d7-f4c9-45f5-a8de-c7f91b8f68c7
Rogers, Edward
76a78e34-9160-4a38-a68a-caedee8bf659

Rawson, Andrew David and Rogers, Edward (2015) Assessing the impacts to vessel traffic from offshore wind farms in the Thames Estuary. Scientific Journals of the Maritime University of Szczecin, 43 (115), 99-107.

Record type: Article

Abstract

The development of offshore renewable energy installations can introduce additional hazards to the safe navigation of shipping in often already crowded waterways. Developers and decision makers must predict and properly manage the potential risks imposed on navigating vessels from wind farm developments, in a complex and uncertain environment. Considerable analysis has been undertaken to model navigational risks to vessel traffic around wind farms; however this work is generally predictive and there is little understanding as to whether the modelling, central to the consideration of navigation safety, accurately reflects the post-constructed navigation risks. It is therefore important for decision makers to understand the uncertainties present in the analysis, both in terms of the assessment of risk and the implementation of any risk reduction measures. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the change in vessel traffic in the Thames Estuary before and after the construction of five offshore wind farms. The analysis demonstrates how the impact on vessel traffic is specific to the location of each development, driven by traffic management measures and other local constraints. Therefore the accurate modelling of this impact requires the input of experienced navigators, regulators and other knowledgeable stakeholders. The results of this analysis can be used to improve the predictive modelling of vessel traffic around offshore wind farms and other offshore installations, leading to a reduction in the uncertainty of vessel traffic modelling in the future.

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Published date: 2015
Keywords: navigational safety, offshore, wind farms, AIS, vessel traffic, risk analysis

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 426239
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/426239
ISSN: 1733-8670
PURE UUID: 517cd22e-5198-4066-a993-19ae9c880766
ORCID for Andrew David Rawson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8774-2415

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Date deposited: 20 Nov 2018 17:30
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 22:47

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Contributors

Author: Andrew David Rawson ORCID iD
Author: Edward Rogers

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