Glomar-Venture

A report by the Dutch Safety Board stated that the allision of the 'Glomar Venture' with the base of Vattenfall's Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm approximately 24 kilometers west of Callantsoog on April 20 was the result of several incorrect decisions by the watch officer. For example, the vessel was using an outdated digital map that showed fewer wind turbines than the paper map used primarily for navigation. The digital map did not fully display the wind turbine farm, while the paper map showed more turbines. Furthermore, there was no lookout, and the watch alarm was deactivated. The vessel was en route from a work area in the North Sea, where it had been providing assistance for four weeks, to the port of Den Helder. During the changing of the watch, the course was diverted to the edge of the wind farm, after which a corner post was rammed. The helmsman fully acknowledged that the allision was essentially the result of a series of errors by him. He had diverted the course because he saw a lot of shipping traffic on the original course. He did this based on the digital chart, which was less complete than the paper chart. He then thought he could manage without a lookout and left the watch alarm deactivated because the captain, who was sleeping on the bridge, would wake up if the alarm went off. The helmsman was on his first voyage on the 'Glomar Venture', but had 20 years of experience as a captain on other ships. Following the incident, the shipping company conducted a thorough internal investigation in close cooperation with the relevant government agencies. It was determined that the incident was the result of human error. The vessel in question was fully equipped with all required aids to navigation, and the competent authorities, after their assessment, saw no reason to initiate further investigations. Based on the findings, various corrective and preventive measures have been implemented, aimed at minimizing the risk of similar incidents in the future.

The Dutch Safety Board has concluded its abbreviated nvestigation into the alision of the 'Glomar Venture' with an offshore wind turbine of Vattenfall, located 18 kilometers off the coast of Zandvoort, on April 21. The results will be published later this year in the Shipping Accident Report. There was no reason for a comprehensive investigation. A key reason for an abbreviated investigation was that, based on the preliminary investigation, no broad safety lessons to be learned from the incident were anticipated.. The 'Glomar Venture' had suffered significant damage to its bow and has since been repaired at the Damen Shipyard.

When the 'Glomar Venture' allided with the Vattenfall wind turbine 18 kilometres off the coast of Zandvoort, its lower part was damaged. This concerns the wind farm Wind Farm Hollandse Kust Zuid. This is one of the largest wind farms at sea, stretching from The Hague to IJmuiden. The affected wind turbine has a tip height of 225 metres and is located exactly on the point of the front section. Hollandse Kust Zuid consists of four sectors and has a total of 139 wind turbines. According to initial research, the turbine was hit at the bottom, which is the yellow part that forms the foundation. After the impact, the wind turbine was stopped and then put 'in neutral' and let the blades continue to turn quietly so that they no longer catch any wind. Last weekend, the wind turbine was put back into operation, temporarily at half power. Vattenfall was still guessing about the cause. An exploratory investigation is currently underway by the Dutch Safety Board. They will investigate what exactly happened that day and which factors played a role in this. Depending on these findings, an official investigation will follow later. The 'Glomar Venture' remained at the Damen Shipyard as of May 15.

Technicians from the shipbuilder Damen have started repair work on the 'Glomar Venture' in Den Helder, while the Dutch Safety Board has launched an investigation after the allision with a wind turbine in the North Sea, about 24 kilometres off the coast near Callantsoog.. Based on the results of the investigation, the Safety Board will decide whether or not it will formally investigate the incident, in which three crew members were injured, including the captain, who was seriously injured. He suffered fractures to his face and had to stay in hospital for several days. He is currently recovering from the injury. The 'Glomar Venture' suffered serious damage to the bow, probably because it hit the mast of the turbine head-on. The ship was then moved to the quay of Het Nieuwe Werk in Den Helder for further investigations and to record the initial damage. The 'Glomar Venture' is currently moored at the Damen Shipyards shipyard in Den Helder. The ship was built in 1987 by Maaskant Shipyards in Stellendam as the beam trawler 'KW-88 Pelikaan'. In 2007, the ship was equipped for offshore use. Since then, the vessel has been part of the Helder fleet of Glomar Offshore,

The captain of the 'Glomar Venture' was seriously injured in the allision with a Siemens Gamesa wind turbine 24 kilometres off the coast of Callantsoog. He suffered serious facial fractures when he fell and hit a bench. Two crew members, the helmsman and the motorman, one of whom suffered several broken ribs after falling. also suffered broken bones. The crew mainly consisted of Ukrainians. Immediately after the accident, the Coast Guard and units of the KNRM came to help. After treating the injured on board, they were taken to hospital. The affected crew members were not yet approachable. The cause of the accident was still a complete mystery. The 'Glomar Venture' had completed a job and was on its way to Den Helder when the allision happened. It was a very routine trip. The damaged ship remained moored at the quay of Het Nieuwe Werk, in the closed section in its home port of Den Helder as of April 23, where further investigation had to be carried out. Various authorities are involved in this, including the water police and the Environment and Transport Inspectorate. After the accident investigations have been comloeted, the 'Glomar Venture' can be taken to a dry dock. There, further inspection will follow to see if there is any further damage. The insurance company is also involved in this. The Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbine has been taken offline as investigations were carried out into the damage to the 11MW machine at a Vattenfall-owned project. The 'Glomar Venture' proceeded to Oudeschild on April 23 to the Damen Shipyards for further inspections. A 'Single voyage permit' was issued by the authorities for the departure from Den Helder. Prior to this, representatives of the National Unit (LE) of the water police and the Human Environment Inspectorate (ILT) had been on board. Report ith photos: https://www.noordhollandsdagblad.nl/regio/noordkop/noordkop-denhelder/de-glomar-venture-na-rammen-windturbine-naar-texels-dok-gevaren/60804778.html