Wind farms are on the horizon – literally. Although there are pauses in their planning and development, it is expected that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) – the designated lead agency for Offshore Renewable Energy Installation (OREI) – will site a number of them in the coming months or years. Some 30GW of energy from wind farms is projected for the East Coast. At last count, fifteen wind farms have been proposed to meet the 30GW projection.

Fishermen and coastal communities have been discussing wind farm feasibility, wind farm safety, and the cost/benefit for years now. While Governor Janet Mills of Maine has placed a moratorium on wind farms in state waters, she has encouraged their placement in federal waters. Rhode Island’s wind farm near Block Island is just inside the three-nautical-mile boundary. The five Block Island turbines are rated to generate 30MW of energy, while a wind farm in Virginia generates 12MW.
The concern for the safety of fishing and merchant marine vessels and crew around OREIs is of paramount importance, as the western North Atlantic is a busy place. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is considered a cooperating agency under BOEM. As such, it is charged with providing expertise to the lead agency during the planning and permitting process.
Four years ago (August 2019) the USCG released the Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) No. 01-19. The purpose of this document is “to provide guidance on information and factors the Coast Guard will consider when reviewing an application for a permit to build and operate an Offshore Renewable Energy Installation.” The reason for writing this article about NVIC No. 01-19 is to support the secondary purpose of the circular: to provide “guidance to the members of industry, port safety and security stakeholders, and the general public on the Coast Guard’s role and responsibilities in the OREI application process.”
The authority of the USCG comes from the Ports and Waterways Safety Act (PWSA) which “requires the Coast Guard to conduct studies necessary to provide safe access routes for vessel traffic in waters under the jurisdiction of the United States.” The Coast Guard, as a cooperating agency with respect to wind farms, has the authority to recommend to BOEM that the developer conduct a Navigation Safety Risk Assessment (NSRA).
Under the heading “Guidance on Conducting and Reviewing a Navigation Safety Risk Assessment” there are 16 items that a wind farm developer must consider in an NSRA. We will provide brief annotations for the first eight in this article and the second eight in a subsequent installment.
When creating the NSRA, the Coast Guard expects the develop to include details about the following:
1. Site and Installation Coordinates: GIS data should be available to all “interested parties” at all “relevant stages.”
2. Traffic Survey: This should be recent – within 12 months and include all vessel types over a period of at least 28 days. The developer should consult with stakeholders (including recreational and commercial fishing vessel organizations). Proximity to anchorage grounds, fishing grounds and routes, OREI and gas platforms, disposal sites, and other locations that may be impacted should be reported. The survey must include traffic patterns and potential changes to them, plus seasonal traffic variations.
3. Offshore Above-Water Structure: The developer should address whether there are other structures, the clearances of the blades above the sea surface, and the appropriateness of the clearances above mean higher high water for the types of vessels that will be in the vicinity. Consideration of noise, vibration, collision damage, and the passage of rescue and towing vessels is also included under this heading.
4. Offshore Underwater Structure: The developer should address clearances associated with underwater structures and must address safe clearance through dynamic draft modeling.
5. Assessment of Access To and Navigation Within, or Close to, a Structure: The developer must provide details regarding in what directions, under what weather and tidal conditions, and what time of day navigation “within” the site will be safe. Likewise, the developer must specify under what conditions transit within the site would be prohibited.
6. The Effect of Tides, Tidal Streams, and Currents: This section details 10 situations that could put the vessel transiting the installation at risk. The developer must address these risks.
7. Weather: The developer must take all weather conditions into account, including the degree to which weather would “aggravate or mitigate” the likelihood of “allision with the structure.” Some interesting situations are included in this section such as “wind masking, turbulence, or sheer” for vessels under sail. There must be a “thorough analysis” regarding how the presence of the structure might affect icing and the presence of sea ice. In addition, the likelihood of ice forming on the blades and being thrown off must be considered by the developer.
8. Configuration and Collision Avoidance: According to this document, the default value is that vessels will have the “freedom to navigate through OREIs” with a few exceptions. Since the Coast Guard will dispatch Search and Rescue Services (SAR) to OREI installations, the safety of helicopters and other SAR vessels must be ensured, or at a minimum the risks spelled out. This section also suggests aligning turbines and other structures in straight lines.
This text covers the first half of 16 components of the “Guidance on Conducting and Reviewing a Navigation Safety Risk Assessment” which is found in the NVIC No. 01-19. The circular can be found at www.uscg,mil/hq/cg5/nvic/default.asp. We will cover the remaining components in the next “Fish Safe” article (January 2024 CFN).
FISH SAFE
- Become familiar with documents pertaining to safety around wind farms.
- Attend community and special meetings organized by BOEM and others that are designed to ensure that the fishing community has a voice.