DNV has launched a significant revision to the rules for wind farm service vessels (WFSV) to improve the safety of these specialised vessels which are undertaking multiple roles further and further offshore.
DNV was first to publish rules for WFSV in January 2011 to provide the wind farm industry with an improved construction standard which would be accepted by regulators in the North Sea Basin.
Rule Development Forum
However, given the regulatory complexity and wide operating profile of the vessels, improvements were required to realise enhance safety. DNV therefore established a cross industry rule development forum which provided the company with feedback in a number of key areas. This feedback was used for the new rule set that came into force 1 July.
In particular the DNV work on developing this new standard offers the following benefit for the industry:
- Rule requirements for equipment certification have been clarified reducing the build cost.
- Key lessons from in-service inspections have been fed back into the rule development, for example added requirements to reduce cracking caused by the increased vibration in the aft end of the vessel when pushing up against turbines. This will reduce maintenance and repair cost for the owner.
- It provides an enhanced safety standard which local authorities and domestic associations can use as a benchmark thereby contributing further towards improved safety for the industry.
Picture: The Dalby Aire, the latest vessel built by Alicat Workboats to DNV class was delivered to owner Dalby Offshore Renewables at Seawork 2013.
