Offshore renewable energy was on the agenda when the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) held its first meeting of its long-established Europe & Africa Section in Germany.
The meeting on Thursday, November 28, in Hamburg, hosted speakers from Technip, the German Shipowners Association, German Shipbuilders, Workships Contractors, Seaway Heavy Lifting, Bluewater, RWE, Vattenfall, ER Offshore, and Global Maritime.
“IMCA established an offshore renewables workgroup in 2011 following growing concerns regarding safety in the offshore wind construction industry,” explains the association’s Technical Director, Jane Bugler. “Key aims of the group include helping to disseminate the knowledge, experience and recommended practice held by IMCA and its members to help improve safety and reduce installations costs in this sector. Our Hamburg Europe and Africa Section meeting provides us with the ideal opportunity to explain our core values, vision and proposed action to those actively involved in the offshore renewables industry.”
Following a brief Europe & Africa Section meeting, there were presentations on wind farm vessel standards; the IMCA Common Marine Inspection Document (CMID) for small workboats and its use by vessel operators; offshore logistics during construction phase – integrated installation; the Dutch Tidal Testing Centre at Den Oever; a short update on the G9 focal group for offshore wind health and safety; maritime operations and logistics from an offshore wind farm perspective – the Dan Tysk project; the Maritime Labor Convention and its effect on OSV operations; and on annual DP trials on DP 2 jackup installation vessels.
IMCA is an international association with more than 900 members in 60 countries, representing offshore, marine and underwater engineering companies. IMCA has four technical divisions, covering marine/specialist vessel operations, offshore diving, hydrographic survey and remote systems and ROVs, plus geographic sections for the Asia-Pacific, South America, Europe & Africa, Middle East & India and Central & North America regions. As well as a core focus on safety, the environment, competence and training. IMCA seeks to promote its members' common interests, to resolve industry-wide issues and to provide an authoritative voice for its members. IMCA publishes 200 guidance notes and technical reports. These have been developed over the years and are widely distributed. They are a definition of what IMCA stands for, including widely recognised diving and ROV codes of practice, DP documentation, marine good practice guidance, the Common Marine Inspection Document, safety recommendation, outline training syllabi and the IMCA competence scheme guidance. In addition to the range of printed guidance documents, IMCA also produces safety promotional materials, circulates information notes and safety flashes.
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