Standby Vessel Damaged in Collision With Wind Turbine Pile Off England

The OMS Pollux is operated by Nordic Offshore Marine. Photo courtesy Nordic Offshore Marine

Liverpool Coastguard on Thursday was coordinating the response to a ship that was leaking oil following a collision with a wind turbine pile at wind farm off Cumbria, England.

The Liverpool Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) received a call at 9:05 Thursday morning reporting that the standby safety vessel, OMS Pollux, had collided with a pile supporting a turbine at the Walney Wind Farm located off the coast Barrow-in-Furness. The vessel has since been leaking marine gas oil, the Coast Guard said.

The Danish-registered OMS Pollux remains afloat and there are no reported injuries to the 18 crewmembers, the Coast Guard said. The vessel has sinced moved under its own power to a location north of the Port of Liverpool, and away from environmentally sensitive areas.

A Barrow lifeboat attended the incident and the ship was escorted by Barrow, Lytham and Hoylake lifeboats.

An overflight conducted by a Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s counter pollution team spotted a surface sheen of approximately 5-10 meters wide and about 0.7 nautical miles long trailing the vessel.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency says that the OMS Pollux will remain offshore and outside the Liverpool Port Authority limits until the leak has been stopped. Meanwhile a multi-agency response group comprising of local authorities, emergency services, government agencies and other stakeholders, was scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon to assess the situation. The Liverpool MRCC is in constant contact with the vessel and is also monitoring the situation.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has been informed of the incident.

The MCA added that unlike heavier forms of fuel, marine gas oil should evaporate or disperse naturally.

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